


From a World of Ruins and Ashes

by gurkenpflaster



Category: Doctor Strange (2016), Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Depression, F/M, Heavy Angst, Hurt Tony Stark, M/M, Major character death - Freeform, Parallel Universes, Self-Worth Issues, Suicidal Thoughts, Survivor Guilt, Wong is a Good Bro (Marvel), but all Major Character deaths happened before the beginning of this story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-13
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:34:07
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 27
Words: 24,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22240375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gurkenpflaster/pseuds/gurkenpflaster
Summary: Feeling guilty for the death of Tony Stark, Stephen Strange decides he needs some time to himself, so he travels the multiverse.Fate brings him to a universe where only two survivors are left on earth: Natasha Romanoff and a life-threatening wounded Tony Stark.
Relationships: Pepper Potts & Stephen Strange, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange
Comments: 118
Kudos: 305





	1. Where the Current Will Take Me

Every new day was endless agony for Stephen Strange. Knowing that it was his own fault was the worst of it. It had been him who had chosen the path the universe had taken. He had decided the fate of Tony Stark.

Now he was doomed to live with the consequences. Every day empty and bleak without Tony Stark in the world – it felt like fate had decided that this would be his punishment, his personal hell.

Every night his mind replayed the 14,000,605 deaths Tony Stark had died when Stephen looked into the future with the time stone.

Some of those deaths were sudden, some were drawn-out in agony, and a few of them were grand gestures to save the universe like the one he actually died.

But every one of them was a direct or indirect result of Stephen's decisions. Every one was Stephen's fault. Every time he had to choose between letting die trillions or ending the life of the man, he had fallen in love with on Titan.

He had chosen the greater good.

Always.

And now he had to live with this decision for the rest of his life.

Stephen had barely been able to keep it together at the funeral. In the days that followed, he just existed, too exhausted to even feel anything. Endless nights he spent drifting through the unending halls and corridors of the sanctum, bone-deep tired and unable to rest at the same time.

Wong, at his side, was concerned. He didn't say it out loud, but Stephen could see it in his eyes.

...and the librarian wasn't wrong. Stephen had considered ending his own life more than once. But his responsibility to the universe kept the Sorcerer Supreme going. He lived to serve. That was the only thing he had left. Going through the motions, he performed his daily duties like a ghost of himself.

But today was a particularly bad day. It was the day when Rogers went back into the past to return the Infinity Stones to their initial timelines. Stephen knew this because he had helped to return them into their original shapes: The Space Stone into the Tesseract, the Mind Stone into Loki's scepter, and so on.

Now, with the Time Stone returned, the last temptation of trying to bring back Tony was also gone. Instead, Stephen felt restless and empty. He decided he had to get out.

Under the worried stares of Wong, he slipped his sling ring on and announced he'd go away.

"Where do you go?" Wong asked. He blocked the way, forced Stephen to look at him.

"I don't know," Stephen confessed. "I'll let myself float with the current, see where it takes me."

"Will you come back?"

Stephen hesitated. "Yes," he answered after a moment, "I'll only be gone for a couple of days at the most."

"Promise!"

"I swear I'll come back. Alive and as healthy as I am right now."

That seemed to satisfy Wong, and he stepped aside.

Sometimes, when you open a portal without a clear goal in mind, it leads you to a place where you are most needed, or where you are intended to be. At least this was an observation Stephen had made. He had talked to other sorcerers about this, but no one had understood what he meant. Maybe it was just his subconscious that decided where to go, but that way, Stephen had ended up in some remarkable places in the past. Now, when he opened the portal, he could feel that it would bring him to another universe. Determinedly, he stepped into the unknown.

He ended up in the New York Sanctum of another world. Or, to be more precise, what was left of it. The building was in ruins, with the roof and the upper levels collapsed. The only clue that it was actually the sanctum was the pattern of the marble tiles on the floor that shimmered through dust and rubble.

He looked around – everywhere the same picture, the entire city was in ruins.

"What happened here?" he murmured to himself. "Has Thanos won here?" But no, that couldn't be. If Thanos had won, he would have remade the whole universe in his image.

Stephen went off to explore the area. On his expedition, he encountered not one living soul: no people, no animals, not even insects or plants, just ruins, scorched earth, and a nightmarish number of corpses. Whatever had happened here, it had happened recently. He wandered around for hours.

It already dawned, when a voice behind him yelled, "Hey, you! No sudden moves or I'll blow off your head!"

Slowly, he raised his hands, trying to look as non-threateningly as possible.

"Turn around!" the voice commanded.

He obeyed.

Surprised, he realized the woman, pointing a gun at him was Natasha Romanoff, the Black Widow.

She seemed to recognize him too.


	2. A Dead World

"Strange? I saw you die!" Natasha Romanoff slowly put down the gun, while she stared at Stephen, unbelievingly.

"What happened here?" he asked.

"We have no time for that now, come with me, you have to save Tony!" She turned and started to run, but Stephen called her back. His thoughts were racing. What the hell was going on here?

"Tell me where he is! I'll teleport us there."

She considered his words for a moment, then she answered, "He's hidden under the ruins of the Avengers Tower."

Stephen was already opening a portal. Without any further hesitation, she jogged through the opening. It was obviously not the first time Romanoff traveled this way. On the other side, she disappeared in the ruins of what once had been the Avengers Tower.

The sorcerer followed her into the rubble. They climbed down a hatch into a cavity. Behind a turn lay a big room that seemed to be the partially caved-in underground garage. Stephen ignited a magic flame to illuminate the darkness.

When he took a closer look at the debris, Stephen worried for a moment about the structural integrity, until they passed a corpse on the ground.

Shocked, he gasped. There, in a corner, propped up against a car, sat Peter Parker, dead, half his body burnt. 

Stephen had seen those kinds of injuries before. 

Once. 

And every night in his nightmares since. 

A quick scan of the area showed him what he was searching for: The Infinity Gauntlet and all six stones glimmered at the arm of the dead Spider-Man.

"He snapped with the gauntlet to vanquish Thanos and his army." It was a conclusion, not a question.

"Yes," Romanoff answered. Without missing a beat, she urged him forward. "This way, Doctor. Now's no time to mourn the dead."

She led him into the staircase. Under the stairs, on a relatively clean spot of the floor, lay a figure Stephen hardly recognized as Tony Stark. One look told the doctor that he had no way to help the other man here.

"He needs a hospital, now!"

"In case you haven't noticed: this world is dead, Doctor!" Romanoff nearly screamed at him. "We are the last survivors! There are no hospitals!"

Stephen ignored her. With clinical accuracy, he examined the half-dead man before him.

He had deep cuts on his torso, which were probably infected because he was burning with fever.

"I need you to carry him," he whispered at the Cloak of Levitation.

The sentient piece of fabric responded immediately. It detached itself from Stephen's shoulders and laid beside Stark on the floor.

"Help me to get him on the cloak!" Stephen ordered Romanoff.

Carefully, they heaved the wounded man onto the red fabric that started to rise from the ground as soon as he lay there securely.

"How much blood has he lost?" Stephen asked while conjuring a portal.

"Not much. He did something with his nanobots to stop the bleeding."

"When did this happen?" He gestured to the wound on the torso.

"Three days ago."

Stephen decided they had no time for stealth and discretion, so the portal opened directly to the ER department of the Metro-General Hospital.

Thankfully Christine was on duty.

"Christine!"

Christine Palmer cursed silently every time she heard Stephen Strange's voice calling her name. Because usually, she had to take care of the heavily wounded sorcerer. Of course, it had been over five years since this had happened the last time.

But some things never change, so she jumped into action as soon as he crossed the portal.

"Patient is male, caucasian, 53 years old. He's not responsive and has deep lacerations on his chest, hip, and left thigh, blood loss is moderate, but it's infected–"

Christine reached them and took a good look at her new patient.

"Stephen, that is–"

"I know who that is!"

"But... Tony Stark is dead!"

"Well, this one isn't, and I wish to keep it this way!" he hissed.

She took a corner of the Cloak of Levitation and tugged it towards an empty operating room.

"This one? How many Tony Starks are there?"

"An infinite amount, that's the nature of the multiverse."

Together, they transferred Stark from the cloak to the operating table and Christine his examined injuries.

"Shit, Stephen, I can't do this alone!"

He nodded. "I know. Bring in whoever you need, but make sure they are discreet. I don't want this to be all over the media tomorrow!"

"Funny. You are the one who appeared through a ring of flames in the middle of a crowded hospital corridor!"

"It was an emergency!"

"Okay. I give you that point. Will you help?"

Deep in thought, he looked down at his shaking hands. "Better not. I'm more a hindrance than a help. Also, someone should take care of Ms. Romanoff. She's probably very confused right now."

While Christine called in her team, Stephen left to search for the Black Widow. He found her in the corridor, not far from where the portal had brought them.

"Do you need something, Agent Romanoff? Some food? A drink? A shower? I'm sure I can arrange something."

"An explanation would be a nice start..."

"Of course. I suppose you are familiar with the concept of multiple universes?"

She nodded slowly.

"The mystic arts allow me to cross the barrier between your world and mine."

"That means you're not the Stephen Strange I know?"

"You said you saw him die, so it's safe to say he is dead, sorry," he explains softly.

She sighed and buried her face in her hands.

"Come with me, I know a place a bit more private."

She looked up at the passer-byes, who eyed them suspiciously: Stephen in his sorcerer robes, the dirty cloak wrapped around his shoulders and Natasha Romanoff, an actual Avenger who died just recently.

"Sounds good," she agreed eventually.


	3. Differences

Together they climbed the stairs to the roof. Of course, the door to the exit was locked. Back in the day, Stephen used to bribe one of the janitors to give him a spare key, now he just opened it with a spell.

They stepped out on the roof, sat down on the ledge, and looked down at the city.

Eventually, Stephen began speaking. He told Romanoff everything that had happened in the last five years and especially in the days since the time heist.

"I'm dead in this universe?" she asked finally.

"I was told that you and Barton went to Vormir, he came back with the stone."

"Funny. For me, it was the other way around."

Before Stephen could reply something to her, the door to the staircase opened, and Christine joined them. She handed to both of them a paper cup full of lukewarm coffee and a sandwich from the vending machine.

"I knew I'd find you here. Old habits die hard."

"You know me so well, Christine." Stephen smiled.

Romanoff practically inhaled her food. Stephen wondered how long it had been since she'd eaten the last time. Quietly, he gave her his sandwich too.

"How is Stark?" he asked Christine.

"His condition is critical but stable. We want to monitor him closely overnight, but he'll pull through. The worst problem is the cuts and the infection, but he responds well to the antibiotics. And although the blood loss wasn't fatal, we needed to give him more than one blood transfusion. He has three broken ribs. There's nothing we can do about them, you know that. They have to heal on their own. Also, his left tibia is broken, but it's a simple fracture. We set it and put his leg in a cast. Everything else is minor burns and scratches. Nothing time won't fix." She looked at the still eating Natasha Romanoff and turned to Stephen. "Maybe you could tell me where you've gotten not only one but two dead Avengers from."

"Like I said, I went to another universe and found them by chance."

"Stephen, I know you feel guilty for Tony Stark's death, but you can't just bring another one from somewhere in the multiverse here. You'll have to return them to their world eventually." Christine talked to him like he was a little boy who brought home a stray dog.

"Our world is dead. There's no one left except us," Romanoff murmured without looking up.

Devastated, Christine put her hand on her mouth. "Are you sure?"

"I checked. Used all Stark Industries satellites I could get a connection to and scanned the surface of the planet for days. Nothing."

"Why don't you tell us what happened," Stephen suggested, taking a sip of coffee.

Romanoff took a deep breath. "After we reversed Thanos' snap, he attacked the Avengers Tower. We fought all together: the returned, the sorcerers, the Wakandan army, the Ravagers... in the middle of the city! It was a mess! When Wanda Maximoff almost managed to overpower Thanos, he called in an air-strike from his space ship. They bombed everything to the ground."

"Where was Captain Marvel? She prevented that in our timeline," Stephen interjected.

Romanoff shrugged. "She disappeared two years ago. Nobody knows where she went."

"What happened then?"

"You died. You and the other sorcerers tried to protect people, but you didn't stand a chance against the weapons of Thanos' ship. Peter and I only survived because we were close to Tony, so his armor protected us. We were buried deep under the rubble. Took us nearly a day to get out of there. In the meantime, they detonated bombs that destroyed the surface of the whole planet."

"What happened to the gauntlet?"

"You had stored it in a pocket dimension to keep it out of Thanos' reach. Tony was able to retrieve it, but that was a trap. They were already waiting for us. Tony held them back so that the kid could escape with the gauntlet. Thanos took him down like a dead tree. Sliced straight through his armor. We managed to get away into the underground garage under the Avengers Tower's ruins, but Tony was too badly wounded. So it was Peter who used the gauntlet to snap Thanos and his army out of existence." She sniffed silently. "We weren't able to protect the earth, but at least we saved the rest of the universe."

Sorrowful silence fell between the three of them.

"You don't have to go back, Ms. Romanoff. You're welcome to stay here," Stephen assured her.

She wiped away her tears and shook her head. "No, I will have to go back sooner than later. Someone was to return the Infinity Stones to their timelines."

"You don't need to worry about that now. The good thing about time-traveling is the fact that time is irrelevant. If you go back now or in a couple of weeks –or even years– doesn't make any difference."

"But the gauntlet! It just lies there, unprotected!" she suddenly said, alarmed.

"You're right!" He could slap himself for being so negligent. But in his defense, he had been preoccupied with other things in the last hours. "I promise you to retrieve it and take it somewhere for safekeeping."

"Thank you, Doc." Romanoff turned to Christine. "Can I see Tony?"

"Not like that." She gestures towards Romanoff's clothes, covered in dried blood, dust, and other dirt. "But I can organize a shower and a change of clothes for you. After that, you can visit him."

"Thank you."

"Good! Now that this is settled, I'll go and take care of the Infinity Gauntlet." Stephen stood up and rubbed his hands together.

"You're coming back here after that, right?" Romanoff asked.

"Why would I?" Stephen said, confused.

"Tony waited five years to see you again," she said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Okay... Yeah, sure. I'll come back as soon as I can, then."

Why had this conversation gotten so weird all of a sudden? Stephen didn't understand, but he hadn't the time to ponder on it now. He had more pressing matters to take care of. Like an unattended Infinity Gauntlet plus its full set of Infinity Stones. And where he would store it.

With a short goodbye, he opened a portal and was gone in the blink of an eye.


	4. The Gauntlet and the Spider

Instantly, Stephen arrived in his study at the sanctum where Wong was brooding over a book.

When he noticed Stephen, he looked up.

"You're back already! It hasn't even been a day!"

Doubtlessly, Wong thought this had to be a good sign going by the smile on his face.

But when he took in Stephen's whole appearance, the dirt and the blood on his clothes, the smile vanished intandly.

"What happened?"

"I need your help."

"Of course. Let me just get a weapon."

Stephen shook his head. "No need. We're just going to retrieve an Infinity Gauntlet."

"An Infinity Gauntlet? Where do you want to get that?"

"Parallel universe."

"And what are you planning to do with it?" the librarian asked sharply.

"I plan to keep it here, safe until the stones can be returned to their original timelines."

"And you won't try to use them to bring back Stark?"

"No! Of course not!" Stephen said. "But..."

"But what?"

"But this gauntlet will not be the only thing from that universe I brought here..."

Wong sighed. "What else did you bring here?"

"Uhmm... Natasha Romanoff and Tony Stark," Stephen answered meekly.

"The Vishanti help me! Stephen, you can't just–"

Stephen didn't wait for him to finish this sentence. He opened the portal to the ruins of the Avengers Tower of the other world again.

Together they peered into the other universe through the opening.

"This is how it looks there. Everywhere. The whole planet. I checked. Romanoff and Stark are the only survivors."

Shocked, Wong kept on staring at the ruined world.

"You see, by bringing them here, I saved their lives."

That seemed to pacify Wong.

"Where are they now?" the librarian asked.

"Hospital. Christine is taking care of them." He took a deep breath. "Can we get this over with now?"

"Why didn't you–" Wong began, but Stephen interrupted him.

"I am not sure I can go back there alone."

There was something haunted in his voice, so Wong decided not to press any further. "Let's go, then."

Stephen led Wong through the hidden entrance into the underground garage, heading determined to the location of Peter's corpse.

When they reached him, Wong mumbled, shocked, "Hoary Hosts of Hoggoth! The poor boy..."

He knelt down to retrieve the gauntlet but put his hand on Peter's cheek. There was something that drew his attention to the boy.

"Stephen!"

His fingers wandered to Peter's neck, where he found the carotid artery.

"He's not dead!"

"What?!" Stephen's mouth turned dry.

"Pulse! There's a pulse!"

In an instant, Stephen was by his side, checking the body for vital signs. When he touched Peter, he felt warm, maybe a bit too warm, and Wong was right – there was a pulse. Weak and slow, but undoubtedly there.

"That's a miracle," he mumbled.

When Wong moved to take off the gauntlet, Stephen held him back.

"Don't!" He pointed to the little flashes of lightning, which were emitted by the Infinity stones. "It is possible the power of the gauntlet might have kept him alive. If we remove it now, we could do more harm than good."

Chastising himself that he had been so neglectful and hadn't looked after Peter earlier, Stephen performed what little healing magic he knew, but the help this provided was only superficial.

"Okay, agreed. But what do we do now? Should we get him to a hospital?" Wong asked.

Stephen shook his head. "He's burned with cosmic energy. I don't think there is a doctor on earth who could help him. We need a healer. Let us bring him to Kamar-Taj."

"You're right. Master Zhào might know what to do."

"Let's hope so..."

Wong opened a portal to the infirmary of Kamar-Taj, and with the help of the cloak, they moved Peter there as carefully as possible.

While Wong informed Emma Zhào, a petite Chinese-American woman about Stephen's age, what had happened, Stephen sat down at Peter's side, softly stroking his uninjured cheek.

Master Zhào began her examination of the boy, and Stephen just sat there, unable to shake the feeling that he had failed Peter.

Again.

"He is exceptionally strong. I have never seen self-healing powers like this. Everyone else would have died in his place."

"I know. I saw that up close, thank you," Stephen mumbled.

"I'm sorry, Stephen. I forgot that you were with Stark when..." She put her hand on his shoulder.

"It's okay," he lied. Nothing was okay. Nothing would ever be okay again. But the Sorcerer Supreme had to keep up appearances, so he asked, "What can you do for the boy?"

"Not much. From a medical standpoint, he should be dead. All I can do is removing the gauntlet, trying to stabilize him, and waiting. He is in a coma, but I've never seen anything like this. It is impossible to make a prognosis – he could wake up tomorrow or never again." She shrugged. "We have to wait and see if his body can heal the damage on its own."

"Okay. Do it!" Stephen got up and could feel the calming weight of the Cloak of Levitation as it attached itself to his shoulders again. "I know you'll do the best for him that can be done. Thank you, Emma."

He turned to Wong and gestured towards the gauntlet. "Can... can you put the thing someplace safe until we can dispose of the stones? I have to get back to the hospital, I promised."

"Of course. But you should shower first. And clean the cloak. It has bloodstains on it."

Stephen nodded before he opened a portal back to New York.


	5. John Doe

Later, after he had changed into civilian clothes, Stephen portaled into a supply closet of the hospital. The cloak had decided it wanted to stay at home and rest. Stephen thought it had earned that, so he let it have the remainder of the day off.

Careful not to be seen, he snuck out of the closet and went searching for Christine.

When he couldn't find her, he asked one of the nurses, in which room he'd find Stark.

"Who?" the nurse inquired.

"The man I brought here this morning?"

"Oh! You're the wizard!"

"Sorcerer!" Stephen hissed through clenched teeth, but she didn't hear it.

"Your John Doe is in the last room on the left, Mr. Wizard." With a wink, she continued on her way.

To Stephen's surprise was the last room on the left deserted except for the man in the hospital bed. Romanoff was nowhere to be seen.

Quietly, he pulled a chair next to the bed and sat down at Stark's side. For a long time, Stephen just watched the other man breathing. Tentatively, he reached out to brush the knuckle of his index finger softly over Stark's cheek. He simply had to feel the other man was real.

Stark was still burning with fever, but also reassuringly palpable. Not a trick, his mind was playing on him. Just Tony Stark. Solid and alive under his hand.

Stephen broke out in silent tears, not being able to hold back anymore.

"Stephen?"

A faint sigh let Stephen look up. He was greeted by beautiful brown eyes, watching him longingly.

"Is it over now? I did as I promised you, I kept it up no matter how hard it was. And I took care of myself, like you wanted: No alcohol, no endless nights in the workshop, no cutting myself off from the rest of the world."

Stephen wasn't sure how to reply. Eventually, he took Stark's hand in his, caressed the back of the hand with his thumb. "You did well, I'm proud of you."

"That's good…" Stark relaxed visibly. "Missed you so much."

At this moment, Stephen cursed himself that he didn't ask Romanoff what kind of connection the other Strange and Stark had shared. "Really?" 

But Stark didn't answer; he was fast asleep already.


	6. What Now?

"We have to tell someone." Christine and Stephen sat in the staff break room of the hospital, trying to decide their further course of action.

"Yes, good idea! And who do you want to tell?" Stephen scoffed. 

"The Avengers?" she asked.

"Then please tell me: Who are the Avengers right now? Black Widow, Vision and Iron Man are dead, Captain Marvel and Thor are god-knows-where in space, Captain America's an old man, Spider-Man's just a kid, and all the others are scattered to the winds! Let's face it – the Avengers don't exist anymore."

"What about Stark's family?"

"Do you want to go and tell them, _'We found_ a _Tony Stark, but he might not remember any of you or your time together, because chances are he has led a completely different life than the man you knew. But he looks like him and will serve as a painful reminder of what you lost until the end of his life!'"_

"Yes, thank you, Stephen. I get the point."

"We should wait until he's lucid so we can talk to him before we contact his family."

"But what makes you think there might be such big differences?"

"I don't know. Just a hunch. You know, I've never met Black Widow, but when she talks to me, I get the feeling that she's known the other me quite well…"

"Maybe the other you was an Avenger!"

"I'd never join them!"

"Yes, but maybe _he_ had good reasons."

"I can't imagine what kind of reasons that could be."

They shared a brief grin before the door opened, and Natasha Romanoff strolled in.

"The nurse told me I'd find you here," she explained. "Tony woke up and is asking for you, Dr. Strange."

"Oh yes, Miss Romanoff, but please, sit down first." He pointed at the empty chair at their table. "We need to clarify some things. You know, exchange some key data about the history of your world. To verify how much our universes differ from each other... or not – we'll see."

She nodded, accepted the chair, and sat down wearily. "Ask. What do you want to know, Dr. Strange?"

"Oh, please, call me Stephen."

Another brief nod. "Natasha."

"Christine," Christine added.

Natasha acknowledged her with a nervous smile. "So ask, Stephen."

"What is the relationship between Tony Stark and Stephen Strange?"

"You don't beat around the bush, Doc, don't you?"

"I see no point in that, no."

"They wanted to get married. In August, five years ago, but Thanos happened. What about you?"

"I met Tony Stark the first time Bruce Banner crashed into my roof window. That was on the day of the Decimation. When Tony Stark died, he was virtually a stranger to me."

He didn't tell her that he'd fallen in love with the man he had seen in 14 Million possible futures on Titan. The prospect that there might be a Tony Stark who would maybe requite this love was more daunting than joyous to him at the moment. 

"Poor Tony! So he has been all on his own since..." 

Stephen didn't know what 'since' was supposed to mean, and she didn't say anything more.

"No, he was happily married. Had a little daughter. She's four years old, I think," Christine explained.

"Married? To whom?"

"Pepper Potts."

"But... Pepper Potts died in 2013."

The doctors looked at her, inquiring.

"Extremis," Natasha answered the unspoken question. "She blew up like a bomb before he could cure her. Tony himself was more or less lucky: he was in another part of the house at that time. The explosion didn't affect him directly, but it collapsed the whole building. He got buried under the rubble, sustained a head injury. That's how he first met Dr. Strange."

"The other me operated on him?"

"Yes, and he became Tony's friend after Pepper's death. I think they got together after the Sokovia disaster."

Stephen was eager to learn more, but he was cut short when suddenly the nurse from earlier barged into the room. "Dr. Palmer! There is someone who demands to talk to you concerning your John Doe!"


	7. Pepper

"Can't that wait until later?" Christine asks the agitated nurse.

"She is very insistent… and she threatens to sue the hospital."

"What the hell..." Christine began, but she didn't get any further.

A furious Pepper Potts burst through the door. "I demand to talk to her now!"

She stopped when she saw Stephen and sneered at him, "Why am I not surprised to find out that you are involved in this whole mess?"

Stephen didn't respond. He just gazed coldly at Stark's widow.

"Who do you think you are?" yelled Christine over the tumult. "I don't know where you got your information, but–"

"I think that's my fault," Natasha confessed, "I called the Avengers. The only person who answered was Bruce. I'm not sure he believed my story."

Just at that moment, the mentioned Bruce Banner joined them. It was apparent that he had been running after Pepper. Out of breath, the man that was also called Professor Hulk leaned against the wall. His right arm was still burned and scarred, and he wore it in a sling.

"Pepper, please! I'm sure there is a perfectly logical explanation... Nat?"

For a moment, he just stood there and stared at her in shock.

"Hey, Bruce."

In three steps, he crossed the room to stand in front of her.

"Are you real?"

"As real as someone from another universe can be here in this world," she said with a lopsided grin.

Without hesitation, he pulled her close into a tight embrace with his healthy arm. "So it's true? What you told me on the phone? Tony is...? Can we see him?"

He looked back and forth between Natasha and the doctors.

It was Christine who answered eventually, "I'm not sure this would be a good idea. First, I have to talk to Mr. Stark alone. Up until now, he hasn't been very responsive. He has a high fever and hallucinates. So I'll go to him, and I will examine him again, then I'll decide who is allowed to visit him and who not. And you will follow my instructions." She turned to Pepper Potts. "That applies to you, in particular, Ms. Potts."

The other woman wanted to protest, but Christine wouldn't let her.

"My patient might be Tony Stark, but he is not your husband."

"That is ridiculous! How can he be Tony but not my husband?"

Now Stephen spoke for the first time. "Your husband died in your arms. You buried him. He will never return."

"And who's fault is that?!" she Pepper hissed at him.

Unswayed, he continued, "This Tony Stark had to bury your counterpart from his world ten years ago. He is heavily traumatized, hallucinates, and seeing his dead ex-girlfriend just walking into his room, won't be conducive to his mental health."

That stunned her into silence. Questioning, she looked at Natasha, who gave her a court nod.

"The Pepper Potts of their world has been dead for ten years," Stephen confirmed. "Do you understand? I didn't bring _your_ Tony back. I can't. No one can! This is a different person who led a different life for the past ten years."

Bruce wrapped his arm around Pepper to comfort her.

"We have to find an arrangement for both Mr. Stark and Ms. Romanoff because they can not go back to their world." Christine laid down this information in her usual calm and matter-of-stately way. "I suggest you start sorting this out, I have a patient to look after."


	8. Hard Talk

Silently, Christine slipped into Tony Stark's hospital room, just in case the injured Avenger had fallen asleep again. But she didn't have to. Stark sat in his bed and looked at her when she entered.

"Christine?"

"Mr. Stark, good to see you conscious and lucid."

"Please, Christine, what's going on? Why are you calling me 'Mr. Stark'?"

Until now, it hadn't even occurred to Christine that, of course, this Tony Stark would have known her.

So she took a seat beside his bed. "I'm calling you Mr. Stark because we haven't met before."

"What? How?"

"I trust you understand what the multiverse is and how it works."

Realization dawned on his face.

"No! No, God, no!" he lamented, and tears filled his eyes. "My world... were there any survivors?"

"Only you and Miss Romanoff."

He buried his face in his hands. "What about the Kid? Peter?"

"I was informed that he used the gauntlet to obliterate Thanos and his armies at the cost of his own life."

Now, the Avenger started sobbing.

"I am very sorry, Mr. Stark."

"But Stephen... I saw Stephen earlier. He was here... Did I hallucinate that?"

"About that... There are things you have to know about the life of the Tony Stark from this world."

And with that, she told him everything about Stephen, Pepper, and the sacrifice of the other Tony Stark.

"So... I'm dead here? And Pepper is alive?"

Christine nodded. "They were married and have a daughter."

"Can I see them?" His eyes were practically begging her not to deny his wish.

"Of course. That can be arranged. In fact, Ms. Potts and Doctor Banner are here at the hospital right now. But you need to rest, so not all at once."

He nods slowly.

"Who do you want to see first?"

"Stephen... is he still here, too?"

"Of course. I'll go and get him."


	9. Unworthy

Minutes later, a nervous Stephen knocked at Stark's door.

"Come in!"

Hesitantly, the sorcerer entered the room.

Inside, he found Tony Stark sitting in his bed, propped up by a bunch of pillows. He was still way too pale, but he seemed intent to hide his weakness. With a cheery grin, he pointed at the chair beside the bed.

"Please, Stephen... I mean Doctor Strange, take a seat."

"Stephen is fine," the doctor remarked as he followed the request.

"So Stephen it is. Great." He still grinned, and Stephen started noticing how fake it looked. "I should thank you, Stephen. For saving my life."

"You wish I hadn't." It wasn't a question. It was a simple fact that Stephen stated in his usual calm manner.

"Maybe the thought crossed my mind, but you brought me here, and now I get a second chance. I am very thankful for that."

Stephen forced himself to smile, too. He didn't buy Stark's ardor one bit.

"Good to hear that. The world certainly needs Tony Stark. Now more than ever."

"Really? You think so?"

Stephen shrugged.

"Well, I'm happy to hear that," Stark said, but Stephen noticed his fake cheeriness fading for a moment. "Let me ask you a question, Doc."

"Whatever you want to know."

"What kind of relationship did you have to Tony Stark?"

"None. We were strangers. We met on the day of the Decimation, fought on Titan, then I was dusted for five years. When we dusted ones came back, we fought Thanos again, and Stark died. I knew him barely longer than one day. That's it." He deliberately didn't mention the 14 million futures he had seen with the help of the Time Stone and the hundreds of years he had spent with Tony this way.

"Oh. That's very unfortunate," Stark sighed. "Maybe we could change that. Get to know each other."

The desperate hope in Stark's eyes betrayed the happy facade the billionaire had put on.

So, the next thing Stephen said, was the hardest words he had ever spoken in his life, but he believed it had to be done.

"I don't think that's a good idea, Tony. I am neither who nor what you want." With that, he got up and turned to leave. "I'm sorry. In another life, we might have been..." He didn't know how to end that sentence, so he left it hanging as unfinished as it was.

"I know. I just hoped..."

Stephen nodded wordlessly.

"Goodbye, Stephen."

Reluctantly, Stephen looked back at Stark. Oh, how much he longed to stay here, talking and getting to know this version of the man he loved, easing the engineer's pain and shielding him from further harm. But it wasn't his place. He didn't deserve to be this person, after all, he was the one who had decided the fate of Tony Stark. This way, he had become Stark's judge and jury, unworthy to take comfort in the company of another version of the man he had sentenced to death.

"Goodbye, Tony."

Barely keeping it together, he rushed to the nearest supply closet to portal home to the sanctum where he broke down, crying.


	10. For Stephen

Tony Stark _didn't_ cry. 

Not again. 

It was bad enough that he had lost his composure in front of Christine. 

Now he wouldn't cry. Even if it felt as if someone had reached into his chest and ripped his heart out.

He should be used to it by now. After all, he had a lot of experience with a wounded heart – literally as well as figuratively. By now, he had lost every single one of the people he loved most. But it never became any easier to cope with, because how could one get used to something like that?

It fucking hurt. Every time.

And his Stephen would probably have said this was a good thing. _As long as you can feel the pain, you're not dead._

So, Tony promised himself to keep going. For his Stephen. That had become his mantra for the past five years. _Do it for Stephen. Do the things that would make him happy and proud._

Except his Stephen was gone. 

Forever. This time without any hope of getting him back. Tony had to come to terms with the loss of Stephen five years ago, but at least there had been the slight hope this could be reversed. Not this time.

Only now, the finality of this situation started to dawn on Tony. He had lost his Stephen for good, and the other one wanted nothing to do with him.

So Tony laid back down and curled into a tight ball – at least as much as his injuries allowed it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

As much as Stephen's rejection hurt, Tony didn't even blame him for rebuffing his advances. Natasha surely must have told him about Tony and his Stephen. 

Really, if Tony was completely honest to himself, he understood why the other Stephen had no interest in spending his time with a complete stranger, especially if this came with so much emotional baggage. Tony figured that trying to befriend the doctor would only end in an awkward mess. 

The Stephen Strange he had loved was dead and gone. Nothing would ever bring him back, and expecting that the other version of the doctor would fill this gap was unfair to either of the Stephens. To think his Stephen was that easy to replace would diminish the special status he had held in Tony's life. Also, using the other Stephen as a convenient substitute because he was available, would degrade him from a partner with his own merits to an inferior stand-in. Tony couldn't do that to Stephen. He wasn't that selfish and cruel.

With his body still weak from the fever and unable to do anything about his heartache, Tony drifted into a light sleep. When he woke up again, someone was sitting in the chair next to his bed. At first, Tony thought it was Natasha, but the woman's hair was blond instead of red. She wore a plain black business dress without much jewelry or other accessories. A simple gold chain with a ring too big for her own hand and a matching ring on her left ring finger were the only things accentuating her outfit.

"Hey..." he said, while his brain was slowly coming back online.

"Hey," she answered."


	11. What could have been

Pepper Potts. She looked as gorgeous as Tony remembered, except she was definitely older than the woman he had loved. She didn't look old by any means, but a decade doesn't pass you by without a trace, no matter how good your genes or how strict your beauty regimens are.

"So, are you real?" he asked.

"As real as you, I guess..." she replied.

"You look like you've seen a ghost," Tony said, only half-joking.

She nodded. "It certainly feels like it."

"I know the feeling." He kept staring at her in the intent to take in every last detail of her.

"Can I hug you?" she said after a while.

"Yeah, sure. Just be careful with the ribs. Broken, you know..."

With a groan, he forced his battered body to sit up, whereas Pepper took a seat on his bed with all the grace of an elven queen. Gingerly she scooted close to him, wrapped her arms around his middle, and buried her face in the crook of his neck. It was a bit awkward, yet somehow it felt like coming home. Slowly, he drew his arms around her shoulders and pulled her as close as he could without aggravating his injuries.

"Gosh, I thought I'd never get to do this again with you," he sighed. "I saw you die, you know?"

"Ditto," she mumbled into the skin if his neck.

"You... were there? When... at the final battle?"

"We needed every single one of us, so I joined the fight... He built me an armor." She didn't say his name, but it was clear she meant her Tony.

"He did?" Tony whispered, astonished.

"Yes."

"Funny. I built one for Stephen. He never wore it, didn't get the chance to give it to him..."

Pepper moved back up to look him in the face. "So you and him... you were..."

"He was my rock. Every time everything went to shit – which was pretty often – he was there to pick me up. I dunno how I deserved that. I wasn't always the most supportive boyfriend, especially after his accident..." He fell silent for a moment. "Sorry, I'm sure you don't want to hear me talking about him all the time..."

"He was an essential part of your life. Of course, you can talk about him."

He sighed. "What does it matter now? He's gone – they're all gone."

There was no response from her. Tony understood. What can you say to somebody who lost his whole world?

"So, you have a daughter?" he asked quickly to change to a lighter topic.

"Yes. Her name's Morgan. She's four years old. Tony's death hit her quite hard. He was her hero."

So much for a lighter topic.

Now it was he who didn't know how to reply to that. He sat there, looked at Pepper, and thought about having a family with her. Ten-years-ago-Tony would have been terrified by the thought of having children, but he had fantasized often since about having a family.

With Stephen.

He wished that there had been the opportunity to talk to Stephen about it. But they were always busy, and it never came up. Back then, Tony said to himself that this wasn't a problem – they had all the time in the world. How wrong he had been.

"What now?" Tony asked, getting already tired again.

Pepper answered him with another question, "Will you come home with us, once they discharge you from the hospital?"

There was a place Tony called his home, and he longed so much to return back there, but he knew he wouldn't be welcome there. Tony realized he had no place to go in this world, so he nodded.

When she smiled at him, he immediately felt guilty for taking advantage of her grief.


	12. Home Again

Days later, Stephen sat in his armchair next to the fireplace and tried to read. When he reread the same passage for the third time without having any idea what it said, he put the book down. Lost in thought, he stared into the flames, unable to get this whole Tony-Stark-Affair out of his mind.

In the morning, Christine had informed him Stark had been released from the hospital into the care of his family.

A sudden ringing of the doorbell snapped Stephen out of his thoughts. He got up and crossed the entrance hall. Outside in the drizzle stood Tony Stark, supported by his crutches, a suitcase at his side.

"Tony..."

"Hey, Stephen..." Stark's gaze was firmly directed to the ground. "I was wondering if I could stay here. I know you have a guest room, so I thought..."

"What about your family? Don't they have a room for you left?" Stephen aimed for it to sound jokingly, but it came out utterly sarcastic. 

"Yeah. But I realized... they are absolute strangers to me, and I wanted to come... home..." Now he looked up at Stephen, eyes damp from the rain. Or was it tears?

Wordlessly, the doctor stepped aside to grant him entry to the sanctum. 

The Cloak of Levitation detached itself from Stephen's shoulders, picked up the luggage, and floated inside. It hovered for a moment in front of Stephen, until the sorcerer instructed it with a nod to bring the suitcase upstairs to the guest rooms.

Stephen peered outside before he closed the door.

"How did you get here?" he asked.

"I called an Uber." Stark's voice was as blank as his expression. He shuddered from cold, which wasn't helped by the dampness of his clothes.

"Come, Tony. I'll make you some tea." After a short pause, he added, "But you should change first."

Now Tony was obviously embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm... I'm not quite sure I can manage to change... without help. Hurts, you know?"

Of course, Stephen remembered – broken ribs, deep lesions which had barely had the time to heal in the few days that had passed. He opened a portal to the guest room. 

"Come on, I'll help you." He looked at Stark, who was still avoiding eye contact. "There's no need to be ashamed. Remember, I'm a doctor. I've seen all kinds of things before."

Stark let out a humorless huff, "You were a neurosurgeon. What weird stuff does a neurosurgeon get to see aside from naked brains?"

"You'd be surprised. Also, a doctor doesn't emerge as a fully accomplished neurosurgeon from medical school. There is quite some time in-between where one has to take a lot of shit."

That seemed to break the ice a little bit and drew a crooked smile from Stark.

"To be honest, I feel like having a bath right now."

Stephen nodded. "That can be arranged, too."

He went to the attached bathroom to fill the tub, then he returned to Stark and helped him to shed the damp clothes. Together they made their way to the bath, where Stephen assisted Tony by getting into the tub without stepping on his broken leg.

"What about..." Tony gestured towards the wounds on his chest and leg.

Stephen made a gesture with his hand, after which the bandages, as well as the cast on his leg, started glowing blue.

"Don't worry. It's waterproof now."

Carefully, Stephen lowered the other man into the warm water, where he visibly relaxed.

"... don't know how I would have dealt with this if I had stayed in the Stark's cabin... can't Pepper expect to..." the inventor mumbled more to himself than to Stephen.

"But, you expect it from me?"

Tony averted his face. "You _are_ a doctor, after all..."

Stephen decided not to argue. He tried to see it as what it was: a demonstration of the trust the Avenger put in him, even if Tony himself probably wasn't aware of it. So, the doctor scooped up some water in his hands to wet Tony's hair. Then he grabbed the shampoo to massage it in gently. At last, he rinsed it out while Tony washed the rest of his body with a washcloth.

When they were done, the cloak floated into the room. With it, it brought thick, fluffy, white towels, which Stephen used to rub Tony dry – even the most private parts because Tony had problems reaching there. Blushing, the engineer looked away.

"As I said, no reason to be embarrassed," Stephen repeated. He guided Tony to sit down on the closed toilet lid and started removing the bandages on his injuries.

"We should change the bandages to check if everything is healing okay and avoid getting it infected."

Tony just nodded and let him work. After the doctor was satisfied with the healing process of his patient and had rebandaged the wounds, he helped him to dress in warm, dry clothes.

Relieved to see that Tony obviously felt better now, Stephen opened a portal to the kitchen.

"So now... Tea?"

"Always." Tony agreed.

The cloak came seemingly out of nowhere, wrapped itself around Tony's shoulders and carried him gently through the opening.


	13. Teas and Truths

Stephen had long known that the Cloak of Levitation was kind of telepathic. That way, it seemed to decide who was worthy of its companionship.

Stephen wondered what warranted such an instant connection between the artifact and the Avenger. He had never seen the cloak liking someone other than himself, and even if he definitely wasn't jealous, he couldn't help but wonder what the cloak's motivation was.

Thankful, Tony stroked the soft, red fabric. "You're a treasure, Levi."

"You gave it a name?" Stephen mumbled, dumbfounded.

"Of course, I gave him a name. I know you didn't."

Honestly, the thought had never crossed Stephen's mind. But then, he usually didn't talk out loud to the cloak. They had established some sort of non-verbal communication.

'Levi' helped Tony to a stool at the kitchen counter. After that, it retreated into a corner of the room, where it hovered in attendance.

Stephen busied himself making tea, while Tony watched him.

Each of Stephen's movements was so well-practiced, he could have done it in his sleep. Today, however, not even this procedure that Stephen was so conversant with brought him the solace it usually did. He was endlessly tired, to the point of feeling numb. All he wanted was to be alone, but at the same time, Stephen couldn't let Tony out of his sight. So he puttered around unsure what to do about their situation.

They didn't speak, and the silence weighed heavily upon the sorcerer's mind.

"Do you know why I couldn't stay there?" Tony asked suddenly out of the blue.

"Hm? What do you mean?" Stephen looked up, confused.

"The Stark's lake cabin. I panicked, had to get out of there."

"Oh... why?" He filled two mugs with tea. Carefully he handed one to Tony.

"It felt like I'm stealing someone else's life. The other me, he had built this for himself... and he did what I couldn't, he protected the earth and his family. Then I come along – the failure that I am – to steal this family... I don't deserve them. All I did was getting them killed. Pepper... Rhodey... Happy..." For a long time, he just stared into his tea. "You know, we never found whatever remained of Rhodey. He is buried miles deep under the wreckage of the city center of Sokovia... and Happy... he got shot two years ago when he protected me from some maniac who wanted revenge for his dusted family – went after me, but Hap took the bullet..." He sniffed. "Pepper... I wanted to cure her, but I couldn't. For a long time, I wished that this damn explosion had killed me too. God, that was so long ago. Feels almost like a different life!" He leaned back slightly but winced in pain instantly.

"I know when the Pepper from this world looks at me, she sees her dead husband the hero, but I'm just an imposter, the one who let all of them down... and the kid... she figured out the truth. She's afraid of me."

For a long time, Stephen didn't react. He let a bit of honey drizzle into his tea and stirred it gently, then he said, "...and you thought it was a good idea to come to me? To seek refuge with the man who killed Tony Stark?"

"What are you talking about?" Tony asked, shocked.

"It was my decisions that led to his death. I chose the path."

"I'm certain that's not true, Stephen."

"It is. Believe me. I saw over 14 million futures, and in the end, it came down to simple cost-benefit analysis... to calculate who got to live and who had to die."

Silence fell over the room again.

Tentatively, Tony took a sip of tea, then he put the cup aside. He reached for Stephen's shaking hand.

"You know, that is our burden, isn't it? To make the tough decisions. The ones no one else can." With his thumb, he caressed the scars on Stephen's fingers. "If I were him, I would understand. I would give my life gladly if that meant the rest of the universe was safe... and I'm pretty sure so did he."

Stephen couldn't stand the look in those big, brown eyes. Those beautiful eyes that haunted his nightmares staring empty and dead into nothingness. The same eyes that were full of warmth and sympathy now.

The sympathy he knew he didn't deserve.

Abruptly, he stood and nodded towards the cloak.

"I think it's time for bed now. 'Levi' will be happy to help you upstairs. Goodnight!"

He had to get away, so he didn't wait for an answer as he fled the kitchen.


	14. Tell Me

"You know, out of the both of us, I should be the one moping around and wallowing in self-pity. My entire world is dead!" It hadn't taken Tony long to find Stephen in the library. "And you? What did you even lose? You got a guy killed you barely knew... Big deal! People die. That's part of our job!"

Infuriated, Stephen got up to his feet and stood in front of Tony, towering over the smaller man.

"You have no idea what you are talking about!"

"Then tell me, Stephen! Help me understand!"

Stephen shook his head and tried to push past Tony, but the engineer held him back.

"Let me go!" There was something dark and dangerous in the sorcerer's voice.

Tony didn't react. He just strengthened his hold on Stephen's arm and stared daggers at him.

"Let. Me. Go!" Stephen hissed.

"You're gonna talk to me. Otherwise, we'll stand here for the rest of the night. Your choice."

"This is childish!" Stephen made another half-hearted attempt to tear himself away from Tony when all he really wanted was to sink to his knees in front of the inventor, tell him about each one of the 14 million futures and beg for absolution.

"Yes, I agree. This is _very_ childish!" Tony shifted his weight uncomfortably from his right leg and the crutch in his left hand. It was apparent how difficult it was for him to stand here. Nonetheless, he didn't budge. "I know how you get when you don't wanna talk about something, but right now, I won't have any of your shit!" His thumb started caressing Stephen's arm, but the grip stayed strong as iron.

"I know this wasn't the first time you had to make a decision like this. What makes Tony Stark so special?"

"He was a hero. Someone to look up to. I thought it was a loss for the world."

"Liar! Try again." Despite his words, there was no harshness in Tony's voice. It sounded almost affectionate.

Stephen hated this. He hated how much this stranger knew about him – how intimately he was so familiar with Stephen while the doctor only knew him as his battle companion. 

"Please don't force me..." he begged of Tony, but the engineer was relentless.

"No can do."

That angered Stephen. Why couldn't Tony just leave in peace?

With a sudden wave of magic energy, he broke free of Tony's grip, but the engineer lost his balance and tumbled backward to the ground. If Levi hadn't caught him the last moment, he might have ended up even more hurt than he was already. The red fabric wrapped itself like a cocoon around Tony, floating away to protect him from Stephen. 

When the sorcerer realized what he just had done, he fell to his knees, crying and mumbling apology after apology.

Tony convinced Levi to let him down, then he crawled back to Stephen on his hands and knees. He tried to touch Stephen, but the sorcerer shied away.

"No! Stay away from me. I'm a monster! All I'm good for is getting you killed, just like the other one!"

"No, no, no! Everything's fine! Look, nothing happened. All fine." Tony wrapped his arms around Stephen, softly rubbing his back. 

Now Stephen couldn't help himself. He was so exhausted, and when his last restraint finally broke down, he couldn't do anything other than sitting there, sobbing in Tony's arms.

Not that Tony seemed to mind – he kept stroking his back and whispering soothing nonsense into his ear until Stephen's breath finally calmed down, and the tears dried up.

When Stephen eventually was able to respond again, Tony asked, "Why Tony Stark? What is it about his death, that you even consider ending your own life?"

"Who told you..."

Tony didn't answer, but his gaze flickered over to Levi, who hovered in the corner of the room.

Of course. That made sense. The cloak must have seen this in Stephen's thoughts.

"Judas," he mumbled. 

If the cloak had a face, it would have stared at the ground in shame.

"Don't blame him. He's just a friend who worries," Tony said softly. "...and don't you dare to distract from my question! Why Stark?"

There was no use in resisting, Stephen realized. Tony wouldn't let go of the subject until he had an answer.

So Stephen buried his face in the crook of Tony's neck because that way, he at least didn't have to look Tony in the eyes.

"I loved him... fought for hundreds of years at his side, and fell in love with him. But I had to kill him. Millions of times. It's all my fault."

Tony stiffened, and Stephen could hear him take a deep breath. Then, to his surprise, the embrace tightened, the stroking on his back continued. He felt something wet on his ear that wasn't his own tears.

"No, Stephen, you're wrong. It was Thanos' fault, all of it. You did what you had to do. You saved the most people causing the least amount of casualties." He took Stephen's face in his hands and forced him to look at him. "There's a universe out there that exists because of your decisions, and I'm pretty sure I'm speaking here for every Tony Stark in the multiverse – may they be alive or dead: This is a good thing!"

Stephen didn't know how to reply.

"Come on, I'm an injured old man, I shouldn't be sitting on the floor! ...and you look like hell, I bet you hadn't had a good night's rest in ages. So, tomorrow I'll continue to tell you how wrong you are, but now we need to sleep."

Now Stephen couldn't help but smile a little.

"See? That's my man! Now help me up and teleport me to my room!" Tony rubbed a tear out of the corner of his own eye. Then, he reached out to wipe Stephen's face dry, too. "And you're gonna sleep too. No discussion, Mr. Doctor!"

Stephen took Tony's hand and guided it away from his face. With a court nod, he got onto his feet, then he reached out to help Tony up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, but that's gonna be it for a while, I haven't been feeling good the last couple of days. I'm aiming to post the next chapter next Sunday.  
> That's all from me, stay safe, stay healthy, my best wishes go out to all of you. 😘


	15. Keep the Nightmares At Bay

Even exhausted to death as he was, Stephen lay in bed, unable to find sleep.

So, he started listening to the noises of the night: The muffled sound of traffic, the patter of rain on the windowpane, the creaking and groaning of the old building. If he tried very hard, maybe he could even hear the warfare of the tiny, interdimensional creatures that lived inside the walls – empires rising and falling in the span of one night, without the world even knowing that they had existed.

Suddenly, a ticking noise snapped him out of his thoughts. It was a slow, irregular noise, but it kept getting louder. Accompanied by a shuffling sound, it came through the door. Then, as sudden as it had begun, it stopped.

Stephen lay there and held his breath, straining for any further sound.

After two long minutes, it began again, getting quieter this time.

Stephen sat up and got out of bed, fumbling in the dark for his dressing gown. He didn't find it, so instead, he wrapped Levi around his shoulders. Careful not to make any sound, he tiptoed into the hallway, where he saw a lonely figure on crutches walking away.

"Tony?" Stephen asked into the darkness.

The other man stopped but didn't turn around.

"What are you doing?"

"Just stretching out my legs a bit..."

"You mean the broken one?"

"Yeah, I just need a little exercise."

"Of course. Exercise. In the middle of the night. With a broken leg and ribs." Stephen sighed. "Tony, what is wrong?"

For a moment, it seemed like Tony was going to answer, then he shook his head. "Nothing. It's stupid, forget it."

"Come on, tell me. I like stupid."

"Liar. You have no patience for stupidity!"

"I'm willing to make an exception for your stupidity," Stephen said with a warm smile. "But only yours."

Looking up and blinking, Tony tried in vain to keep the treacherous tears from falling.

"I can't sleep," he confessed. With the heel of his hand, he wiped his face dry as well as possible. "One would think that after five years without Stephen, I should have learned to sleep alone again."

"Oh."

"Yeah: oh. As I said, stupid."

Stephen shook his head. "No, not at all... Would it help you if we..."

"You don't have to," Tony said quickly. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable."

"It's just us sleeping side by side. No big deal."

"Sure?"

With an inviting gesture, Stephen took a step back. "Be my guest."

He followed Tony into the bedroom and conjured up an extra set of pillows and a second duvet.

"Thank you, Doc."

Determined, Tony headed for the left half of the bed.

'His' side?

Stephen didn't comment on it. He just climbed into the other half of the bed and turned off the light.

After a bit of shuffling, Tony beside him had settled down, too.

"So, how did you sleep in the last five years?" Stephen couldn't help it. He had to ask the question.

"Mostly, I resorted to herbal sleeping aids. Nothing illegal, mind you. On some occasions, when I had a particularly bad night, Wong helped."

"Wong?"

"That man knows his sleeping spells."

"Hm," Stephen hummed. "I know. He used them on me more often than I would like."

"Rightfully so, your sleeping habits are even worse than mine. With you astral-projecting, while you're pretending to sleep," Tony chuckled.

"Hey!" Stephen protested half-heartedly.

Then they fell silent. It took only a couple of minutes until Tony's breathing became slow and even.

When Stephen was sure Tony had fallen asleep, he rolled around to face him. Tentatively, he laid his hand over Tony's before he closed his eyes, and for the first time since Bruce Banner had crashed into his roof window five years – or from Stephen's perspective a couple of weeks – ago, Stephen was able to sleep without nightmares.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There you have it. Short, but fluffy and I think we all can agree: fluffy is something everyone of us can use right now.  
> So, please stay safe and stay healthy... until next time, bye. 😘💚


	16. Unexpected Breakfast

When Wong returned to the sanctum in the morning and entered the kitchen, there was a man (who was definitely not Stephen Strange), frying bacon and eggs.

"Stark? What are you doing here?" he asked, perplexed.

"What does it look like?" He didn't wait for an answer. "I'm making breakfast. Sit down, Wong, eggs are nearly done. I made them just the way you like them!"

With the Cloak of Levitation on his shoulders, Stark floated three inches above the floor, a spatula in hand.

"Where is all this coming from?" Wong looked at the table, richly set with a wide variety of food. Food Wong knew for sure hadn't been in the fridge of the sanctum the day before.

"I ordered it online."

"And how did a dead man pay for all of that?"

"Like always, straight to the point, my dear Wong."

Wong was a bit surprised at the familiarity with which Stark spoke to him and the confidence with which he navigated through their kitchen.

"Well... let's just say my face is surprisingly creditworthy", Stark went on. "After seeing who I am, the deliveryman agreed to issue an invoice for later payment." He modded towards some sheets of paper on a sideboard.

Wong picked it up and flipped through it. Angrily, he looked up. "Are you serious? How in the world did you expect us to pay for that? This is three months' worth of our sanctum budget!"

"No Problem! I'm gonna pay for it!"

"Which money do you intend to use to pay that bill? Dead men don't have credit cards!"

It was evident that this hadn't occurred to Stark prior.

"Oh... I hadn't thought about that..." he said.

"Yes, I noticed it! Listen, Stark. I know this is a novel concept for you, but you are broke now. Just like the rest of us!"

"Don't worry, Wong. I'm gonna come up with something to get the cash!"

Wong rolled his eyes. "Why don't you ask your wife for it?"

Stark fussed with the eggs, avoiding Wong's gaze.

"That's probably not the best idea," he replied eventually.

"May I ask why?" 

"Maybe you could say that I kinda bolted from the Stark's lake house without telling where I went."

"Why the hell would you do that?"

"I panicked!"

Wong took two deep breaths before he said, "The Vishanti help me! What have I done to deserve not only one but two stupid manchildren?" Then he looked around in the kitchen. "Speaking of the devil... Were is Stephen?"

"Upstairs," Stark answered. "I think he's still asleep."

"He sleeps? Really sleeps?" Wong asked unbelievingly. "How did you manage that?"

And why did Stark know Stephen was sleeping? 

"I used my own little magic trick. No chance I'm gonna tell you how." He shot Wong a cheeky grin, which faded as fast as it had come. "What happened to him to break a man like Stephen Strange so thoroughly?"

Wong didn't answer.

"He told me that he was in love with the other Tony Stark and that he had to let him die millions of times," Stark mumbled.

"Don't you think that might be enough to break the best of us?"

Stark busied himself, swooping the eggs onto a plate.

"You know, Wong... there's just one thing I can't get out of my mind. What if _my_ Stephen was in the same situation; if he had to make the same decision? What if he chose differently? Let the whole earth die to save me. We're talking about over seven billion people here! How am I supposed to live with that knowledge? How can I ever sleep again in the knowledge that he sacrificed the whole planet just so miserable old me survives?"

"I guess you knew your Stephen Strange better than I do. Do you think he would be able to do that?"

"That's the thing – I don't know. Drives me nuts..." Stark sat down, stretched his broken leg out in front of him, and rubbed his thigh. "Even if it wasn't intentional, how could he fail so spectacularly? That's just not like him."

A tug from Levi on his shoulder made him look to the door. There, in the shadows, lurked Stephen, reluctant to come closer.

"Feel free to come in, Stephen. No need to creep around in the hallway," Stark said.


	17. The Last Friend

"I'm sorry. It was not my intention to eavesdrop," Stephen replied, as he sheepishly stepped into the kitchen. "I just didn't want to interrupt."

Stark gave him a court nod. "Sit down, breakfast is ready, and you're going to eat. You're far too skinny for my taste."

After a short moment of hesitation, Stephen did as he was told.

Levi fluttered after Wong, helping the librarian to bring the food to the table so that Stark could rest his injured body.

"I was wondering the same thing," Stephen began. "You know, about the other me... How could he..." Absentmindedly, he brought a shaking hand to his face and traced the curve of his bottom lip with his thumb. "Or was there something so powerful that he wasn't able to see it in the future? What could that possibly be?"

Nobody knew the answer to this question, so they started eating. After a while of awkward silence, Wong asked, "How long can we expect your visit here to last, Stark?"

Stark looked up from his quinoa goji berry granola. "Can't wait to get rid of me, hu?"

"I didn't say that," Wong replied a bit on the defensive side. "I just thought that maybe you wanted to go home to your family. Won't they miss you? To be honest, I am a bit baffled about why you are even here."

Stark put his spoon down.

"As far as I'm concerned, I am more at home here in the sanctum than I am with the Starks," Stark confessed. "I've lived here – there, at the Sanctum Sanctorum of my world, I mean – for the last six years."

That confused Wong even more.

Stark and Stephen exchanged a look that told the librarian that he was missing something here.

"Why did you live here?"

"Well, Stephen and I... we wanted to get married before all went to hell."

Shocked, Wong scowled at him. "You were a couple?"

Stark nodded.

"You? The two of you? Actually together?"

Stark nodded again, this time a bit irritated.

"All of a sudden, I feel very sorry for the other me in your world," Wong murmured, half-joking.

That made Stark unexpectedly angry. "Wong was my best friend! The last one I had left! After the Decimation, he let me keep living in the sanctum, even without Stephen! He was part of the team when the Avengers went to the past to get the Infinity Stones back."

That made Wong think. He, Wong, best friend of a Tony Stark who was in love with Stephen Strange? What an odd idea. Suddenly he remembered the look Stephen and Stark had shared.

"You knew that they were together?" Wong asked Stephen.

The doctor nodded, avoiding eye contact.

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Seeing that Tony had a family to return to, I didn't think it was relevant for you... or me."

Wong wondered how Stephen was feeling about all of this. Ever since Stark's funeral, he had suspected that Stephen's feelings for the Avenger had been deeper than the doctor was ready to admit. Now, with the confirmation that he assumed correctly, he wasn't sure what to do with this knowledge.

To avoid another awkward silence, he changed the subject, "The new, better wards you designed, are now in place around Kamar-Taj, Stephen. The Infinity Gauntlet should be undetectable, but to ramp up the security while it is there is only reasonable."

"Good," Stephen said with an approving nod.

"You went back to retrieve the gauntlet?" Stark asked.

"Yes. We decided to keep it safe at Kamar-Taj until the stones can be returned to their original timelines," Wong affirmed.

"Did..." Stark began, but his voice failed, and he needed a moment before he could start again. "Was there... the kid – Spider-Man, I mean. Did you see him? Can we get his body here, too? A proper funeral is the very least he deserved."

Stephen glared at Wong and shook his head once, without Stark noticing.

So Stephen hadn't told Stark that they already brought the boy to Kamar-Taj.

Fair enough, Wong thought, what use was it to tell Stark that the boy had lived and suffered unnoticed by him and Romanoff for days if the kid died in the end anyway.

Over the last days, Wong had been keeping an eye on Parker in the infirmary, but Master Zhào's daily reports had been anything but promising. On the contrary, Parker's condition had gotten even worse. It would take a second miracle for the boy to pull through.

In a way, Wong thought that Stephen was right to keep this information from Stark. At least until the inventor was feeling better.

So he decided to play along. "No, sorry. Going back is too dangerous. Not even for that."

Stark looked absolutely crushed by Wong's answer. A moment later, he regained his composure again and put on a fake smile.

"Yeah, you're right. Stupid idea, sorry."

He waved Levi over to bring him his crutches, but he didn't get any further, because the doorbell rang at this moment.

"Do you expect visitors?" Wong asked Stephen.

"No, but now Tony is here, I expect him to attract all kinds of surprising visitors," Stephen shrugged.


	18. Visitors

Wong got up to get the door and returned shortly after with Natasha Romanoff, Bruce Banner, and a third person, who was hidden behind the Hulk to the kitchen.

"Hey, Nat! Bruce," Tony greeted from his place at the table. "Come on, guys, sit down. We have enough food to even feed the Hulk!" 

It was evident that Banner must have visited Tony already in the hospital, going by the familiarity the inventor spoke to him. The other person, on the other hand, had stopped in the door.

"Tones?"

When Tony looked up, his smile was instantly wiped off his face.

"Rhodey? Is that really you?" He jumped up from his seat and hobbled over to his friend as fast as he could with only one crutch in hand. He let it fall away and threw his arms around the colonel's neck.

"God, you're real! You have no idea how much I missed you, man!"

Rhodes just stood there, thunderstruck.

"I thought they were pulling a sick prank on me, but when I saw Nat, I started to hope..." Finally, he drew his arms around Tony, too. "Man, I saw you die!"

"Yeah, me too." Tony pulled himself away from Rhodes. "It's weird, isn't it? You're the third person I have that conversation with this week. Did you know that Happy is alive as well?"

"Yes, I saw him at your funeral."

Tony's smile turned pained. "Nah, not mine. I'm alive. I'm just the loser who gets everyone else killed..."

Embarrassed, Rhodes looked to the ground, and Tony took the opportunity to have a closer look at the colonel.

"What the hell happened to your legs?" he asked, pointing at Rhodes' leg braces.

"There was this little brawl at a German airport after Tony and Steve had a disagreement over the singing of the Sokovia Accords. Vision hit me by accident – shot me right out of the sky, and I crashed at top speed into a field."

"I remember that story quite different – mostly without you in it..." Tony said.

"So, I died in your universe?"

"Yeah, Sokovia... when Ultron destroyed the city."

"I hope at least my funeral was impressive," Rhodes said with a lopsided grin.

"We never foud enough of you to bury it... We had a nice memorial service, tho."

After they returned had to the table and taken a seat, Rhodes grin faded. "Why are you here, Tony?"

"Here? You mean this universe?"

"No, you know what I mean! Here, Sanctum Sanctorum, New York! Why are you here?"

"I..."

"You ran away without telling anyone where you went! Pepper is mad with worry, and Happy is searching the whole city since yesterday!"

Stephen looked up from his porridge. "You didn't tell them where you went, Tony?"

"Like I said: I panicked!" Tony shouted.

"Yes, but I assumed you left them at least a message! You had the time to pack a suitcase, after all," Stephen shouted back.

Clearly ashamed, Tony looked away. "I felt so homesick, and I thought if I just turned up here, you wouldn't send me away. Didn't think of much else."

At that, Stephen felt deceived and manipulated. Angrily, he shoved his phone at Tony. "You sort this out! Now!"

"I don't know Pepper's number..."

Hereupon, Rhodes handed him his phone. "It's saved under 'S' like Stark."

While Tony still stared at the two phones in his hands, Stephen opened a portal with his sling ring.

"You can make the call from your room," he said, his voice frosty. "Take Levi with you. He can bring you back to the kitchen, once you're done."

"Yes, thanks." Defeated, Tony put Rhodes' phone in his pocket and handed Stephen his back. Levi got the crutches. Together they disappeared into Tony's room.

Silence spread over the table. The only noises came from Banner, who was halfway through his third bowl of crunchy granola.

"There's one thing I keep asking myself," Wong said in an attempt to make small talk, "How did you know where to find Stark if he didn't tell anybody where he went?"

"I've known him long enough by now," Romanoff answered, looking around in the kitchen. "...and in the last five years, I've visited him here more often than I like. This house creeps me out. Never understood why he likes it so much here."

"Sentiment," Stephen murmured.

He thought about his own sentiments towards the sanctum and how he felt more at home here than he ever had in his million-dollar-apartment. Of course, this house could be dangerous, but it was full of wonders, which still waited to be discovered. He could understand Tony, who wanted to come back here, where the building itself could protect its inhabitants if it chose to do so. At other times, it could get a bit mischievous, hide staircases, or rearrange rooms without prior warning. All in good nature, of course.

Stephen stirred his coffee and took a sip, still too hot to drink, so he turned to the others at the table and asked, "Colonel Rhodes, where have you been the last week?"

"Why would you ask?"

"Well, if I were in your place, and if I would hear that my dead best friend had returned, I would get to him as fast as I could. As it took you nearly a week to arrive home, I guess it's safe to say you've been quite a long way away."

"You're good," Rhodes said. "Well, after Steve Rogers had gone back to return the Infinity Stones, I decided I needed a break. As it happened, Carol Danvers offered me to take me with her for a while, and I thought to myself, 'Why not?' So, we went to space."

Then, he told them about his journey through space, while they waited for Tony to return.

Stephen only paid little attention, he was distracted by his own thoughts.


	19. The Nagging Cape

Levi helped Tony to lay down on his bed, and the engineer was very grateful for the assistance. He let out a pained breath and stared at the ceiling.

"Come on, I know you are displeased, let it out!"

Red fabric floated into his field of view. It flapped reproachfully at the sides.

Tony wondered how something without a face or arms could be this expressive. It practically radiated dissatisfaction.

"Yes, yes, yes... I know... Dropping in on him like this because I knew he wouldn't turn me down if I did... that was a bit of a dick move. Especially after he told me he wanted nothing to do with me."

That didn't seem to pacify Levi.

"...and I know it was absolutely gutless of me to run away without telling anyone where I went."

He shuffled a bit backward, so he could sit upright while leaning on the headboard. With a moan, he settled into a more comfortable position.

"But you have to be honest, too!" He pointed at Levi. "You are glad that I came along." Absently, he gazed at the door. "He needs someone... to tell him it wasn't his fault..." He pulled Rhodey's phone out of the pocket. 

Of course, it was the latest Stark Phone model, sleek and steely gray, a perfect addition to the War Machine armor. Tony traced the smooth curves with a finger and put it down with a sigh. "...maybe I need that too, that somebody tells me it wasn't my fault..."

He felt the soothing weight of the cloak settling on his shoulders. Tenderly, Levi stroked Tony's cheek with its collar.

"Ah... You big softie..."

Cuddled up like this, they sat there until Levi used one of its corners to grab Rhoedey's phone. Insistently, it slammed the device into Tony's arm and only stopped when he finally took it. 

"You, my friend, are a nuisance!"

For that, Levi slapped his uninjured thigh playfully.

Groaning, Tony looked at the phone. Then he realized Rhodey hadn't given him the code to unlock it. So, he made shot into the dark and tapped the one _his_ Rhodey had used back in the days when he was alive:

10 06 68 – Rhodey's birthday.

When the phone actually unlocked on the first try, he thought he might burst into tears.

Just the thought of having all his loved ones back! Happy, Pepper, Rhodey and Stephen, all alive... except they weren't 'his' loved ones, were they? Especially Pepper and Rhodey, who had been dead for nine and ten years, had changed a lot over time. Still, Tony longed to get them to know again. 

...and then there was Stephen – so different, yet so similar to _his_ beloved sorcerer.

Suddenly, Tony wasn't sure if his Stephen really returned as the man he had known. He, too, had used the Time Stone on Titan to look into possible futures. Maybe this had changed him, also. It was hard to say, there hadn't been time to talk in private afterward, because hell broke loose when Thanos arrived... the same when they brought back the ones who had been dusted – no time to speak.

Levi stroked his shoulder softly and pointed to the phone.

"Right..." Tony took a deep breath and searched the contracts. There, beneath _Stark, Anthony Edward_ , he found her: _Stark, Virginia Potts_.

Funny that she was listed under her real name, Virginia. Nobody had called her that in years, not even her mother. But maybe that was an expression of Rhoedey's military neatness. Whatever it was, it felt pleasantly familiar. 

He dialed and waited.

"Hey, Pep..." he said when she picked up the phone.

"Oh my god, Tony! Are you all right?" She didn't sound angry, just relieved. 

"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry I left."

"...where are you?"

"I'm in the Village."

"What village?" she asked.

"Greenwich Village, you know? Manhattan."

"What are you doing there?"

"Pep, I think we need to talk."

"Yes! Yes, we indeed need to talk!" After a pause, she said, "Give me the address, I'm coming over!"

When he didn't answer, she demanded again, "The address, Tony!"

"177A Bleecker Street."

"I'll be there as fast as possible." Then she ended the call before he could respond.

Levi squeezed Tony again, and it felt as if the relic was telling him that he did well.


	20. Lost in the Attic

The doorbell rang again, and this time it was Stephen, who got up to open it. Or better: he was the one fleeing the awkward silence in the kitchen.

So, when Stephen opened the door and didn't trust his eyes: outside, on the busy sidewalk of the highly trafficked New York City street, stood Pepper Potts in full Rescue armor. Most passers-by ignored her, but some few shot her annoyed or even angry looks because she blocked the way. She just stood there, the beautiful purplish-blue metal of her armor glistening in the morning sun.

"Morning. What can I do for you?" Stephen asked, knowing full well why she was here.

"Tony called me." Her voice sounded cold and emotionless through the voice module of the helmet.

"Come on in, then. Be my guest. One more or less doesn't make that much of a difference anymore."

She strode past him into the big entrance hall, where she stopped. When she opened the armor and stepped out of it, Stephen noted that she didn't wear any make-up, and instead of a suit or a business dress, she wore a worn-out pair of sweatpants and a shabby AC/DC T-shirt, which probably had been Tony's. Stephen assumed that this was the outfit she slept in.

"Where is he?" she asked, clearly without patience for formalities.

"Upstairs," he pointed to the grand staircase, "second floor, right corridor, third door on the left."

When she pushed past him without another word, he shrugged and returned to the awkward silence of the kitchen.

A couple of minutes later, Tony hobbled on his crutches with Levi around his shoulders into the kitchen.

Everyone looked at him questioningly.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

"Where is Pepper?" Rhodes said.

Confused, Tony replied, "At home? At work? On her way here? How should I know?"

"I sent her up to your room five minutes ago. Didn't you bump into her on your way here?" Stephen explained.

"Hoary hosts!" Wong murmured, "Has this stupid staircase changed direction again?"

"The staircase changes directions?" Romanoff asked. "Does that happen often?"

"Only when it feels mischievous," Wong said.

Together they went back to the foyer and stared at the grand staircase.

"Looks pretty normal to me," Rhodes noted.

"Although it looks like it would bring you to the second floor, if you'd go up on it, it would lead you to..." With a complicated hand gesture, Stephen conjured up a blue glowing mandala, "...the attic."

"Oh, no! Not the attic," Wong sighed, annoyed. 

"Why? What's the problem with the attic?" Tony peered up at the remnants of Stephen's mandala. 

"The dragon's still on the loose, up there!" 

"A dragon? A _real_ dragon?" Banner asked in shock.

"Yupp, a real dragon," Stephen nodded as if a real-life dragon was a every day occurrence.

"Yeah, but it is a tiny dragon, right? That thing is barely bigger than a cat. No need to worry," Tony cut in.

"No need to worry? That beast's extremely venomous. If it bites her, she will be dead before she even hits the floor!" Stephen pointed out in an exasperated tone.

"Why would you even allow such a deadly creature in your house?" Rhodes wanted to know, being, as usual, the most reasonable person in the room.

Stephen and Wong exchanged a look.

"It keeps the bat population in check..." Wong shrugged.

"Oh! Of course, that makes perfect sense!" Rhodes uttered with a roll of the eyes that clearly told them he thought all three of them were idiots.

"I'll go up to get her," Stephen sighed eventually and started climbing the stairs.

Everything looked and felt absolutely normal. That was the thing with those direction-changing stairs: Only the last step brought you to an entirely different part of the building. That is why Stephen had formed the habit of skipping the final step. Now, however, he stepped consciously on the last stair. Suddenly his whole surroundings changed: the carpet gave way to worn-out wood floors. The air turned dusty and stale. Streaks of light fell through the roof windows and illuminated the framework of the roof.

"What is this?" a woman's voice asked.

"The attic," Stephen answered.

Pepper Stark emerged from behind a support beam. "Is this a joke?" she asked angrily.

"No... well, I mean, yes... But not one of my making, I assure you."

She stared at him, unbelieving.

"It's the building, annoyed by so many unfamiliar visitors. It just isn't used to so many at the same time."

"The house is annoyed?"

"Yeah... It is kind of a diva sometimes. I'm sorry that today of all times is a day when it chooses to act up."

"So, you have nothing to do with that?" she inquired, still not convinced.

"No," he assured her. Then he pointed to the stairs. "Come on, let's go down to the others." 

"I tried going downstairs. All I did was ending up here again and again."

"Oh. Then let me..." He reached for his sling ring to make a portal back down but realized he had left it in the kitchen. "Dammit!"

"What is wrong?"

"It looks like we have to wait up here until the sanctum decides to let us go back down again."

"You can't be serious!"

"Sorry."

"This is all your fault!"

"No, like I said – It's the sanctum..." 

"I don't mean this," she made a gesture that seemed to encompass the whole world, "I mean this situation! Are you happy now?" she yelled, tears welling up in her eyes.

"What? Why would I be happy?" he asked in confusion.

"He chose you over me. Isn't that what you wanted?"

"Oh? We're suddenly talking about Tony. I didn't realize we changed the subject..."

"Of course, we're talking about Tony!"

"Listen, he's a grown man, he can do whatever and go wherever he wants! Also, he doesn't owe you anything, because as much as you might be in denial about it: He is not your husband!" Stephen was also screaming by now.

"Shut up! I know very well that this is not my husband! I barely recognize him!" She took a moment to collect herself, then she continued much calmer, "Listen, I didn't come here to start a fight. I'm just so endlessly frustrated! And hurt! He ran away and I don't even know why! This whole situation is a mess, and I just want to find a solution where everyone involved is – maybe not happy, but at least can live with. I want us to handle this like adults!"

"Agreed," He nodded, calming down slowly. After a moment, he continued in a sad tone, "Listen, I didn't want him to come here... I explicitly told him so. But yesterday night, he turned up on my doorstep and said he just wanted to come home."

She looked at him, confused.

"The New York Sanctum has been his home for the last six years."

"Oh..." she said, understanding the implication of those facts.

All of a sudden the angry energy seemed to leave her. Worn out, she dropped down and sat on a dusty old cabin trunk. After another pause, she asked, "Do you love Tony? My... our Tony?"

He nodded, then he shrugged, turned his back on her, and sauntered through the room. While tracing the woodcarvings on an old wardrobe, he muttered absently, "I never really got to know him, so loving him is a very abstract notion for me. I love the idea of Tony. I love the version of him I have in my head. But maybe that doesn't have much in common with the real thing. I'll never know." He looked down at his hands, grinding the dust between his fingers. "We fought together for centuries, side by side, but I never got the chance to get to know who he was when he was not fighting... and dying... I realize that now."

"Centuries?"

He turned back to her, his gaze distant. "Caught in an endless time-loop in the desperate hope I would be able to save both him and the universe if I only tried often enough. As you can tell, that didn't work out the way I wanted."

"I can't even imagine how that must feel."

"It was hell. Enough to fuel the nightmares of several lifetimes."

The tone of his voice was so light and calm as if it were nothing serious. Like talking about the weather on a sunny day. Only the welled up tears in his eyes showed her how much those memories must hurt.

Before she could reply something to that, a portal opened next to them, and Wong appeared. 

"What's taking you so long?" the librarian asked.

"The sanctum wouldn't let us go down, and I've forgotten to take my sling ring with me..."

"I hope that'll be a lesson to you not to leave the damn thing lying around all the time. Now come on, we haven't got all day."

With that, he was gone as abruptly as he had arrived, leaving the open portal behind.

"After you, Ms. Potts." Stephen gestured towards the portal.

"Call me Pepper. Everyone does."

At that, he smiled almost shyly and held out his hand. "Stephen."

"Pleasure to meet you." With a grin, she shook his hand despite the dust on it. 

Time seemed to come to a halt, as they shared this moment of bonding. It somehow felt as if they just made a pact. 

But the mood was spoiled when Wong's head appeared again. "Chop, chop. We're not getting any younger down here!"

Stephen rolled his eyes and followed the other sorcerer through the portal, but not without turning back to Pepper at the last moment and extending his hand again for her to take. "First time portaling can make you a bit dizzy."

Hesitantly she grabbed it. "I lay my life into your hands."

"I'm not sure that's a good idea..." 

"We'll see." She took a deep breath and followed him through the magic gateway, and suddenly she realized that she felt something for Stephen Strange that she never had expected: Sympathy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, that's it for now. Next week, I probably won't post a chapter, because I have a hard time sitting down and gather my thoughts to write at the moment. Also, I've arrived at a spot in this story where I don't know how to go on – don't get me wrong: I know how I want this to end, I just don't know how to get there at the moment. So, I'm taking a break from this story, until my muse returns.  
> Until next time... I hope all of you stay safe and healthy.


	21. Edward Carbonell

Downstairs in the foyer, everyone stood there, waiting for Pepper and Stephen to come back. 

Except for Tony. Supported by Levi and one of his crutches, he stood where Pepper had left her armor. Reverently he ran his hand over its shining blue outer shell. The armor was beautiful even with the scratches, dents, and burn marks it had sustained in the battle at the Avengers Compound.

He had often imagined himself building a suit for Pepper. As he took in all the details, he spotted similarities to his own version of the Mark 49 – the one he had made for Stephen, not for Pepper. 

Lost in thought, the flinched when someone tapped his shoulder. He looked up and found himself staring into Pepper's eyes.

"We need to talk," she said softly.

He only responded with a nod, prying his eyes away from her.

Surprised, he looked around when he heard her ask, "Is there a place we all can gather to hold a meeting? Somewhere a bit less..." suspiciously, she eyed the stairs, "...less supernatural."

Moments later, all of them sat in the salon where mismatched, antique chairs, sofas, and chaise lounges were loosely grouped around a knee-high, round, wooden table.

"So," crossing her legs and leaning back, Pepper let wander her gaze over everyone in the room. She tapped at her StarkPad and looked up again. 

That was not how Tony had imagined them talking. 

All business, Pepper continued, "there are some legal things we need to consider. I think I'm not wrong on the assumption that you plan to stay in our universe indefinitely, right?" She looked from Natasha to Tony and back. 

"There would be no use in going back home," Natasha confirmed. "Everything on our earth is dead."

"Well, then you need an identity. For Nat, it would be super easy to assume the name and status of your counterpart. She had no family outside the Avengers and died on an alien planet. Nobody brought her body back home, there was no funeral or even a memorial service of any kind. So, telling the public that it was all a mistake and she survived to return home weeks later wouldn't be that difficult. If anyone challenged our claims, you'd even pass a DNA test without a problem."

"That's pretty dishonest to the memory of our Nat," Bruce cut in.

"Really?" asked Pepper with a grin in Natasha's direction. "Well, maybe I didn't know Natasha as well as you did, but I think she'd be okay with that. She'd even think it's funny."

Now, Natasha smiled too and gave Pepper a small nod.

"So, are there any objections?" Pepper looked questioning at the others.

It seemed as if Bruce wanted to protest, but then he decided against it and shook his head.

Tony understood where he was coming from. He agreed with the scientist in secret.

They were not their counterparts. 

Taking over their lives not only felt wrong but also diminished the sacrifices the others had made. 

"Good. I'll instruct my PA to arrange a press conference next week to celebrate the unexpected return of Natasha Romanoff. Welcome back," Pepper said and tapped something into her StarkPad.

That earned her an approving, albeit hesitant nod from everyone except Tony and Bruce.

"Perfect. Next point: Tony," she continued. "Your situation is a bit more complicated."

"I could take on a new identity, already thought about it," Tony suggested. "What do you think about Edward Carbonell?" 

He had put some thought into this beforehand: Edward, his second name and Carbonell, his mother's maiden name. He actually quite liked the idea of taking on her name.

"Great idea, Tony," Pepper said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "How did you imagine this to go? Did you plan to shave off your beard and dye your hair blond? Or do you think wearing sunglasses and a basketball cap would suffice?"

Tony felt as if she had slapped him in the face.

"You are Tony Stark!" she went on, "Every child knows your name, your face... your everything! You can travel to the most remote and isolated places in the world, and people will still recognize you!"

Although he was hurt by her words, he had to agree she was right there.

"Unless you undergo plastic surgery to change your face entirely, there is no way that would work. You are Iron Man. You saved the universe." 

Tony wanted to object, but she didn't let him.

"Yes, I know _you_ didn't save the universe, but aside from the people in this room and a handful of others, no one will ever know that." She sighed. "No... a new identity is not an option in your case. So, we need a good cover story." She paused for a moment, "something like... Tony was in a coma, and the reports of his passing are false."

"How many people have seen Tony's corpse?" Wong asked.

"Not many. The Avengers. The coroner who certified his death and two employees of the funeral home who cremated him."

It felt wrong hearing them talk about the other Tony like that. So detached and unemotional.

"Good thing you decided against an open coffin," Tony murmured resentfully.

"Yes, I thought it was a nice idea not to traumatize everyone who attended the funeral," she replied, her voice cold and hard.

Images of Peter's burnt face flashed before his mind's eye. Tony couldn't quite remember how the snap had happened. He had been delirious then, so his memories were a nightmarish, blurry mess. Suddenly, his chest felt tight, and he had trouble breathing, which wasn't helped by his broken ribs. 

"Those people," Rhodey asked, tearing his mind back to the present, "can we pay them off to keep them quiet?" 

"That shouldn't be a problem. They all signed NDAs. If they come up with the idea to bring this story to the media, we have an army of lawyers to sue them to hell."

Tony forced himself to breathe as deeply and steadily as his injuries allowed. It was no use – his chest constricted more and more. He feared he would have to flee the room not to make a scene in front of the others. 

Unexpectedly, he felt the touch of Stephen's hand on his, and the air was flowing freely again. He looked down and saw a faint glow around the sorcerer's hand.

Stephen had always been excellent in picking up the sings of Tony's panic attacks. After all, the doctor himself was no stranger to them. As sad as this fact made Tony, at this moment, he was very grateful for it.

"Tony? Are you feeling well?" Pepper eyed him with worry.

So Stephen wasn't the only one who had noticed.

"If you want to take a break, we can continue this later..."

"'m fine," Tony replied, trying to keep the shaking out of his voice. "Go on, please."

For a moment, Pepper just looked at him. Then she asked, "Was it something we said?" 

_The thing that triggered you?_ his mind completed her question.

"No. Just something I remembered."

"Good. Listen, the next thing isn't going to be easy. For neither of us, so I want this to get over with."

Tony nodded.

Pepper took a deep breath and resumed, "Please don't take this the wrong way, but I want a divorce." There was a suspicious shine in her eyes. 

That was so wrong! Pepper was not a person who cried easily. Tony could count the times he had seen her in tears on one hand. 

"You are not my husband," she continued. "I don't mind you taking on his identity. It is comforting to know that there is a Tony Stark in this universe, but you are a stranger to me, and I don't want to be married to you."

"I understand," Tony said. And he did, of course, he did. The fact alone that she was willing to let him have the name and identity of her dead husband touched him beyond words.

"Good. I have already put some thought into how to divide our property."

"You don't have to-" Tony started, but Pepper didn't let him finish.

"Of course, I have to. Do you know how weird it would look like if you, Tony Stark, heir of Howard Stark, gave up all claims on your family's inheritance? Especially after you return from the dead in such a suspicious way? That practically screams foul play."

She had a point there.

"Also, I don't mind – this is more money than anyone can spend in a lifetime, and even if we split it in half, it is still much more than Morgan and I will ever need."

"I don't want to take anything from you that isn't mine."

"I know. We're gonna divide our liquid funds, our real estate assets, and our Stark Industries shares sixty percent for you, forty for me."

He wanted to object, but she stopped him with a hand gesture.

"...under the condition that I keep my post as CEO of Stark Industries and the lake cabin."

"Of course," he agreed. "There is nobody more suited to be the CEO of Stark Industries."

"Good. I hired a movers company to bring all of Tony's things to our penthouse here in Manhattan. It is yours now. All of it – his clothes, personal items, his car collection... and the Iron Man suits – I don't have any use for this stuff. It just takes up space and collects dust."

Tony nodded. "What about Morgan?" he asked after a while.

Her expression became sharp. "What about her?"

"I want to be a part of her life... she shouldn't have to grow up without a father."

He remembered all the time he had wished to have a child of his own. All the time, he had pondered if he and Stephen wanted to adopt or have their biological child carried out by a surrogate mother. But it wasn't to be...

Now he had gotten a second chance that he wouldn't waste.

Pepper raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"Yes. Why not?"

"Oh, I don't know... maybe I didn't get the impression you cared about her at all, with you fleeing before you even had the time to meet her!"

At this, Tony lowered his eyes. "I'm sorry. I know I fucked up. It's just that... I don't want us to be strangers. I want you in my life – both of you! ...I just..."

He felt the grip of Stephen's hand tighten, encouraging and supporting him.

"You just needed to come home first," Pepper said, sudden sadness in her voice.

Tony nodded and made the weak attempt to smile.

"Sorry."

"It's okay," she sighed, "That doesn't mean it didn't hurt..."

"Maybe we should leave you two alone now," Stephen said suddenly. "I'm sure you don't want such a big audience for this type of conversation." He made a gesture to encompass everyone in the room.

"No," Pepper said, standing up. "I have a lot of things to arrange. I'll be back tomorrow so that we can take care of the paperwork, all right?"

"That would be great," Tony agreed, feeling grateful for her understanding.

He got up as well. "I'll bring you to the door."

Together they left the room and walked across the foyer. Tony opened the big entrance door for her.

"Next time you have a problem, you talk to me about it!" she scolded him in a soft tone of voice. "If we want this relationship to work, you can't keep pulling shit like that! Do you understand?"

He rolled his eyes. "Yes, ma'am."

"Good. See you tomorrow morning."

Mindful of his injuries, she hugged him and kissed his cheek. Then she turned to her armor and let the metal envelop her body. Pepper waved one last time at him, then she walked out onto the street where she took off.

Tony stood there a long time, staring into the empty sky after her until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come inside, Tony," Stephen said, "It wouldn't be wise to let the world know that Tony Stark resides here. At least not now."

"Yeah, you're right," Tony agreed melancholically and closed the door.


	22. Levi and the Bots

Just before noon, Wong got annoyed with all the uninvited guests and complimented them in a more or less diplomatic way out of the sanctum.

Later, he returned to Kamar-Taj, leaving Stephen and Tony alone in the sanctum.

It was an awkward atmosphere once he was gone. 

Just as Stephen got up to go to his study and get some work done, the doorbell rang. Outside was a currier with a parcel bearing the logo of Stark Industries.

Curious, Stephen took it and brought it to Tony in the kitchen.

"What is it?" Tony asked.

With a shrug, Stephen put it on the table.

There was no name on it, just the address '117A Bleecker Street', so they decided to open it together.

Stephen pulled out a note that read:   
_Until Tony Stark can rise from the dead, I thought you might have some use for this.  
Love, Pepper_

He looked at Tony, who unpacked a brand-new StarkPhone, a Stark Industries employee ID card, a driver's license, and a credit card. The phone seemed to be the newest model. Stephen didn't know, and it didn't matter, the more fascinating items were the cards: Tony stared at them, looking close to tears. He handed one to Stephen, and when the doctor saw the name on it, he understood: Edward Carbonell.

Intrigued, Stephen examined the driver's license. "That looks absolutely genuine. Where did she get a real driver's license with a fake name?"

"Pepper Potts is a very resourceful person," Tony said with a watery smile.

"Hm, resourceful indeed," Stephen murmured with a crooked smile.

Half an hour later, the doorbell rang again. This time, six men heaved two man-sized crates into the foyer.

"What the hell is in those?" Stephen asked, looking at the Stark Industries logo on the wood. "Do you think she sent you some Iron Man armors?"

"Dunno. You haven't got a crowbar by any chance? Or can you..." Tony made a circling motion with his hand, "magic them open?"

"Sure." Stephen made a move, and the crates tumbled as loose planks to the floor. Two one-armed robots emerged from underneath the heaps of boards.

"Oh my god!" Tony hobbled towards them as fast as possible.

Before he could trip and fall, Stephen let the remains of the crates vanish with another circular motion. Tony didn't even recognize it, his focus firmly on his beloved bots.

"Dum-E! U!" Tony looked around, tears in his eyes. "They have been destroyed when the Mandarin attacked my mansion in Malibu!"

Dum-E bleeped happily when it recognized its creator.

"I didn't have the chance to salvage their remains and rebuild them."

A sad smile on his face, he touched Dum-E.

Tenderly, the robot lifted its arm and caressed Tony's cheek.

"Yeah, missed you too, you stupid piece of junk!"

With a playful beep, Dum-E nudged Tony's nose.

Stephen just stood there, grinning broadly. Seeing Tony so happy made him happy, too. "Seems like Pepper knows exactly how to brighten your day. I guess she knows her man."

Tony rolled his eyes. "But I'm not him."

"Not in person but in character... Unlike him, you just had a streak of particularly bad luck."

Tony didn't know how to respond to that, so he changed the subject, "Is it okay for them to stay here? Just until I'm able to assemble my new workshop..."

"Sure." Stephen looked at the bots. "Do they need anything?"

"No, they'll be fine on their own."

"Good. Then tell them to stay put and not to touch a thing! There are a lot of dangerous artifacts in this room."

"They can hear you, you know?"

"I'm not talking to... things!"

Tony raised an eyebrow. "You talk to Levi!" 

"That is an entirely different thing!"

"If you say so, Doc." He turned to the robots, "You heard the man! Keep your paws to yourself, or I'll turn you into a modern art installation!"

Together, Stephen and Tony retreated to the salon, while Levi stayed behind. Curious, the mystic artifact circled around the bots, which seemed to amuse them.

Stephen observed them for another moment, then he joined Tony in the salon where they spend the rest of the afternoon talking and telling each other their life stories, searching for differences in their timelines. Stephen was surprised how similar their universes were – until Pepper's death there were no recognizable differences. From there on, Tony's timeline went downhill. It was as if Tony was attracting disasters like a magnet.

"You know, everything I touch, every project I begin, it all goes pear-shaped," Tony sighed. "Sometimes, I think I'm cursed."

At that, Stephen froze and stared at him. He got up and rummaged through some drawers, then when he found what he was looking for, he returned to Tony. The magic artifact he had gotten seemed to be a spyglass that he used the wrong way round to look at Tony. After a moment, he shook his head and put the instrument back into the drawer.

"No. No curse," Stephen mumbled.

"Yeah, well... I'm pretty sure Stephen would have caught it if there were really a curse on me. He wasn't an idiot! He would have noticed."

"Not necessarily," Stephen mussed. "You met before his accident, that means before he became a sorcerer. Many people who aren't sorcerers can sense magic even though they don't know it – just a weird feeling in the back of your mind. You know, something that's always there, like a ringing in the ears or eye floaters, but most of the time, it fades into the background of our sensory perception. So, if you had a curse on you, it would always have been a part of you as long as he had known you, and he probably wouldn't have questioned it once he learned magic." Stephen concluded his explanation. "Also, some curses are pretty tricky to detect if you aren't looking specifically for them."

"So no curse, hu?"

"No, sorry."

Tony looked up and scrunched his nose. "You are sorry that I'm not cursed?"

"I probably could have lifted a curse," Stephen shrugged, "but there's nothing I can do against something simple as bad luck."

"Hm, shame," Tony muttered, lost in his thoughts. 

For a couple of minutes, they sat silently when Tony suddenly said, "Can you believe it? I'm getting divorced even though I was never married..."

"Do you want to get married, Tony?" 

At that, Tony stared at him with a questioning look on his face. To be honest, Stephen himself wondered why he asked that.

"Yeah!" He eyed Stephen suspiciously. "...Wait. Was that a proposal?"

"No!"

"Shame. I might have said yes..."

When Stephen stared aghast at him, he started laughing.

"Idiot!" the doctor mumbled and launched one of the throw pillows in his direction.

Tony started giggling like a little child and threw it back when Stephen's phone started ringing.

With a motion asking Tony to be quiet, the doctor picked up. He said yes a couple of times, while his face turned grimmer and grimmer.

"Is that really necessary?" he asked, then when the person on the other end answered, he sighed, "Okay, I'll be there."

He ended the call and put the phone away.

"That was Wong," he answered Tony's unasked question. "The masters of Kamar-Taj have demanded to hold an extraordinary meeting."

"Why?"

"They expressed their concern regarding intruders from other universes."

"Nat and me," Tony said.

"Yes." Stephen agreed, feeling regret for killing the mood. "Sorry, but I have to go. Is it okay if I leave you alone?"

"Don't worry about me. I still have Levi and the bots."

Suddenly, Tony started giggling again.

"What?" Stephen didn't understand.

"Levi and the Bots. Sounds like a seventies rock-band!"

Now Stephen had to laugh too. "Probably a Jewish one," he agreed.

Surprised, Stephen found he didn't want to leave. He wanted to stay with Tony, laughing about stupid things.

But Tony just said, "Go. You don't want to piss them off, or they'll never make you Sorcerer Supreme. I'll stay here and see what Edward Carbonell can get us for dinner. Deal?"

"Deal," Stephen nodded and opened a portal to Kamar-Taj.


	23. The Meeting

"What the hell is going on?!" Furious, Stephen burst into the big hall, the very same one where the Ancient One once received him when he first arrived at the Kamar-Taj. 

"Master Strange, please sit down," one of the masters said with a tense smile.

"No! And I repeat my question: What is going on? Why are the masters gathering here without my knowledge to make decisions concerning me behind my back?"

"Master Strange," one of them began.

"It is _Doctor_ Strange for you!" Stephen interrupted him.

"Master Strange, we fear you might not be very objective in this matter," another one of the older masters said, sounding so calm it bordered on arrogance.

Stephen snorted in rage, but the master didn't let him get a word in and continued, "...as you have proven just now. You have brought strangers from another universe here without hesitation, without any background check, without considering that they might not be who they pretend to be."

"They are the last survivors of a dead world!"

"And of course you believe those people. We just think it is a bit too convenient that one of them is the man whose death makes you feel so guilty that you have become suicidal."

The old master's words hit Stephen out of nowhere. Feeling utterly betrayed, his eyes shoot to Wong, standing in the back row next to Master Zhào. What had Wong told the others about Stephen's emotional state after Tony's death?

He'd confront Wong later when they were alone, he decided. Right now, he had to put an end to this discussion, so he turned back to the old master.

"They would have died if I hadn't brought them here!"

"That is the story they told you. They could be scouts, sent by an unknown force, planning to invade our world."

"I checked them! Their auras are undoubtedly human! It is impossible to falsify something like this so flawlessly."

"Not that you know of. Furthermore: How does being human rule them out as conquerors?"

Stephen closed his eyes and took a deep breath while he did his best to reign in his anger. "I can assure you that the man with the broken leg, who's having nightmares every time he sleeps and the teenager on death's door won't pose a threat to anyone."

"What about the spy?"

"She's with the Avengers. They know her better than anyone else. If she's not who she's pretending to be... they will notice," Stephen answered, his voice cold as ice. 

"What if you are wrong?"

"I am not!"

"I am sure you believe that," another master banged in. "But what if you are mistaken? Who will deal with the consequences?"

Stephen let out a humorless laugh, then he shook his head. "That would be me then, wouldn't it? I can assure you I intend to be accountable for any mistakes I might have made on this issue. So, get off my back and let me do my work!"

"Your work?"

"There is a hurt man who came to the Sanctum Sanctorum to seek refuge. I will do my best to help him on his way to recovery."

"You're not a doctor anymore."

"I will always be a doctor!" With that, Stephen let the others standing there and left the room with a dramatic swoop of the cloak.

Outside in the courtyard, he leaned against a pillar while he tried to calm his nerves. A combination of anger and agitation ran like an electric current through his body. 

While he concentrated on steadying his breathing, he saw Wong and Master Zhào walk towards him.

The librarian seemed to read his thoughts. Before Stephen could say a word, he declared, "I didn't tell them about your mental condition... I'm your friend, Stephen!"

"Then how can they know that I thought about..." He couldn't bring himself to finish that sentence.

"I don't know. But you should give the masters more credit; they are not stupid. You had been in a pretty bad shape before you brought home the other Stark..."

"Shit. What a mess..." Stephen ran his hand across his face, Wong's concerned eyes on him all the time. Eventually, Stephen turned to Master Zhào in the desire to change the topic, "How is the kid?"

She shook her head. "I can't do anything for him. Every healing magic I tried failed. It is as if the residual cosmic energy from the gauntlet burns away every kind of magic." 

Together, they headed to the infirmary.

"Could I help?" Stephen asked.

"No, Stephen. I don't think that more power is a solution. On the contrary – the stronger the magic, the more vigorous the backlash. You would do more harm than good. Non-magic healing methods could help, but the extent of his injuries exceed everything modern medicine can deal with, at least as far as I know." 

She opened the door and let the two men in. With a sigh, she stepped at Peter's bedside.

"It is only due to his enhanced biology that he is still alive." She ran her fingers through the hair on the unscathed side of his head. "But I don't know how long he can keep fighting."

Stephen's and her eyes met and he could see the sympathy in her's.

"I'm sorry. All I can do is to be with him until the end."

"Thank you." Stephen nodded at her and practically fled the infirmary, Wong on his heels.

Silently, they walked the grounds of Kamar-Taj, watching the new recruits train in the courtyard.

Deep in thought, Stephen heard Wong ask something. He looked up at his friend.

"I said: Will you tell Stark?"

Stephen took a deep breath and nodded. "Yes. He would want to see Peter one last time, maybe stay with him until the end... I have to tell him before it's too late."

"When?"

"I'll let him have this night," He ran his hand over the nape of his neck. "and tell him tomorrow."

Then Stephen returned home, where he spent the rest of the evening avoiding Tony. When bedtime came, he helped Tony bathe again before they laid down in Stephen's bed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Tony asked after Stephen had turned off the light.

"No. I'm tired. We talk tomorrow."

Without another word, Tony turned his back to him.

Stephen realized only afterward how harsh his words had sounded. He felt sorry, but couldn't help it now. Sighing, he closed his eyes and let an uneasy sleep take him.


	24. This Tony’s Morgan

The mood on the breakfast table the next morning felt strained. Tony tried his best to hide how hurt he was from Stephen's reaction the other night, but when they sat in the kitchen and silently munched on yesterday's leftovers, he wondered what had transpired in Kamar-Taj the other day.

The ringing of the doorbell startled him.

He looked at Stephen, but the doctor just shrugged. "Probably Pepper. She said she'd come by today." 

Stephen got up and opened a portal, so Tony had a proper view as he answered the door.

To their surprise, it wasn't Pepper at the door.

"Christine?" Stephen asked. "What are you doing here?"

"Good morning, Stephen, what a delight to see you!" Dr. Christine Palmer replied sarcastically. 

"Sorry. Good morning," he said, sounding equally sarcastic while he took a step back to let her in. "You've never visited me here, so what do we owe to the pleasure of your company today?"

"I'm here to see my patient." She explained, while looking at Tony.

Stephen turned his head to follow her gaze. "Your patient? Doesn't he cease to be your patient once the hospital releases him? Which happened, to my knowledge."

"Well, the thing is, somebody from Stark Industries called the director of the Metro General yesterday. They requested my services. Specifically, and exclusively—until my patient made a full recovery. I hear they offered to make a generous donation to the hospital in return."

"Oh? Do you know why they chose you of all people?"

"Because I am a highly skilled doctor?"

"Christine, please don't take this the wrong way, but if someone like Pepper Potts wants to, she can hire the world's most renowned specialists in every field imaginable. Why would she get you?"

Just as Christine was about to answer, Tony, still sitting in the kitchen, shouted through the open portal, "Hey Christine! Great to see you. Come, join us, we're in the middle of breakfast!" He gestured at the abundantly laid table. 

"Good morning, Mr. Stark," Cautiously, she stepped through the ring of fire to the table. She looked at all the food and shook her head. "No, thank you. I already had breakfast."

"Very well, if you change your mind, the offer still stands." Tony shot her a disarming Stark-Smile and picked his spoon up again. "and please, call me Tony."

"That would be a bad idea. You are practically my employer, so calling you Tony would be-"

"-a bit unprofessional?" he completed her sentence. "I get it, Dr. Palmer. How about coffee?" He handed her a full mug without waiting for an answer.

"Okay. Thanks." She took a sip.

Just as Stephen turned back to join them, the doorbell rang again. 

This time it was Pepper. Together with a little girl who Stephen assumed to be her daughter, she stood in the entryway.

"Morning. We expected you. Please come in," he tried hard to say it as politely as possible but inwardly he was cursing. He needed to talk to Tony alone before it was too late.

Pepper marched past him, through the portal, into the kitchen, her daughter in tow.

Closing the front door, he sighed before he joined the others in the kitchen. Then, he let the ring of fire disappear. The girl stared at him with enormous eyes. 

"Magic," he whispered with the hand gestures of a stage magician and winked.

In return, she grinned at him. Stephen thought he might like her and grinned back.

"Doctor Palmer! I'm glad to see you again!" Pepper greeted Christine, extending her hand for the doctor to shake it.

She took it, somewhat baffled. "Ms. Potts. Thank you, but I'm a bit at a loss why I am here."

"I think it is obvious."

"Is it?"

"You will take care of Tony. I want him to have the best medical care until he made a full recovery."

"Why me?" Christine asked.

"Yeah, why her?" Tony said. "In case you didn't realize: I live here with a doctor!"

Pepper ignored him and said to Christine, "I thought he might appreciate it if I chose a doctor he knows and likes."

"Could you please stop talking about me as if I were your dog?" Tony complains. "I'm a grown man! I would appreciate it if people talked to me for once!"

Stephen rolled his eyes and turned his attention to the little girl who still observed him.

"Don't worry," she said when she noticed his glance towards Pepper and Tony, "they're always like that. That's how they show how much they care for each other. Uncle Happy calls it loving bickering."

"Oh. I didn't know that…" He regarded her with a stare.

"My Mommy said, you're a wizard. Like Harry Potter," she said after a while.

"That's nonsense! I'm a sorcerer."

"What's a sorcerer?"

"Well, we sorcerers protect people. Like the Avengers do. But from a different sort of danger."

"Oh. What sort of danger?"

"Evil beings from other dimensions or magic users who want to harm other people."

The way she looked at him told Stephen that she didn't understand what he meant.

"All kinds of monsters. Vampires, demons, vermin like that." 

Not until he had said that he realized it wasn't a wise idea to tell a four-year-old that vampires and demons were real. However: this four-year-old lived in a world of armored super-geniuses, genetically engineered soldiers, aliens, and alien gods. What difference could some other supernatural beings make?

"Do you fight the monsters?"

"Sometimes. If they are evil. But sometimes they are just lost, then we help them find their way home. Why do you ask?"

"I think there lives a monster under my bed," she whispered as if any monster could be able to hear them over all this distance.

"Really? I could look into that. If your Mommy doesn't mind."

"That would be nice," she nodded. "Daddy used to chase them away… before."

"Oh..."

"He doesn't like me anymore."

"What? Who?"

With a sad expression, she peered at Tony, Pepper, and Christine.

Suddenly it hit Stephen like a ton of bricks: Morgan still believed this Tony was her father!

"It's not his fault. He doesn't know you."

"Really? What happened? Did he hit his head and forgot all about me?"

"Do you mean like in a cartoon? That is not at all how amnesia works!" he said, annoyed over this misconception of how the human brain worked until he remembered he was talking to a four-year-old child. Gently, he grabbed her by the shoulders, so she turned towards him. 

"Listen to me, Morgan: He is not your Daddy. You know that, right? Your Mommy must have explained that to you. He hasn't forgotten you. He literally has never met you before."

"But he looks like Daddy! And he sounds like him! Mom calls him Tony, and he's Iron Man."

"Yes, but he is not your Daddy. He is another version of him… like a twin..."

"Daddy has a secret twin?" she asked in awe.

"Everybody has. An endless amount, in fact."

"Even I?"

"Yep! Everyone."

"How?"

 _Stephen, what have you done?_ he thought to himself. _How will you explain the multiverse to a four-year-old?_

"There are many, many, many other worlds that are like ours: Some are so different from ours you wouldn't recognize anything there. Others are so similar that they appear to be identical to ours. It's complicated, but they exist simultaneously with ours in space and time."

"How can they exist at the same time in the same place?"

She impressed Stephen. The girl was much smarter than he had thought. Or at least she had an impressive vocabulary for a four-year-old.

"Quantum physics. Honestly, that's beyond me… I mean it is not my field of expertise! I'm a doctor. But I know how to use magic to reach these other worlds. I brought Natasha and Tony here, this way."

"Why don't they want to stay in their own world?"

Stephen debated with himself how much he could tell her. Would she understand?

"In the world where he is from, Thanos has killed everybody except Natasha and Tony."

Shocked, she clasped her hands in front of her mouth.

"Thanos killed everybody? All the people? Even the dogs?"

Stephen nodded.

"Even Tony's Morgan?"

"He didn't have a Morgan," Stephen shrugged, "He never got the chance to have children."

That made her sad, but after a moment her face grew determined.

"I can be his Morgan. And he can be my Daddy. Because I don't have a Daddy, and he doesn't have a Morgan."

At that, Stephen was close to tears. It took him some time to think of a reply. "That is very kind-hearted of you," he said, eventually.

Suddenly, the doorbell started ringing wildly. Alarmed, Stephen was up before anyone else could react. As soon as he opened the entrance, Happy Hogan stormed in, screaming, "Tony! Where is Tony?" He stormed past Stephen, still shouting. "Where… There you are! You need to come with me!"

Tony got up and hobbled to his friend. "Hap? What happened?"

"The kid, I mean Peter, he just called me! He's in trouble, you need to come and help!"

Slowly nodding, Tony answered, "Sure. Where is he?"

"Netherlands!"


	25. Far From Home Pt. 1

Tony hobbled back to the table to get his crutches. "Let's go, then. Stephen will teleport us."

Unasked, Levi laid itself around his shoulders, ready to carry him.

"Tony, I already prepared the jet…" Happy said.

"Yes? That is a problem, how?"

"I thought Peter might need a new suit or web shooters. I put everything into the jet, so we should take it with us."

"No problem, Stephen can teleport the whole jet with us inside!" 

Stephen just stood there, following the conversation, shaking his head, and frowning. "You seem to be very confident in my abilities," he said when Tony expectantly looked at him.

"I know what you are capable of, Doc. A portal the size of my jet is no big deal for you. You teleported to earth from Titan, while I almost died on my way home from there." 

He thought about his journey back home, lost in the middle of nowhere, with only Nebula as company. Without Stephen by his side, he had lost all hope, until Carol Danvers had found him. Burning bright like the angel of vengeance, she had ignited the fire in him again—He might have had lost Stephen and Peter, but he swore to himself wouldn't stop until he had avenged them, finally living up to his title as an Avenger.

"I didn't expect you to help, you're in no condition for a fight!" Happy said, snapping Tony out of his thoughts.

"I didn't plan to join the fight, I'm gonna cheer from the sideline."

"What about our guests?" Stephen asked, gesturing towards Pepper, Morgan, and Christine.

"Can't they stay here?"

"Alone? In the Sanctum Sanctorum?" Stephen asked. "This is a bad idea for so many reasons, and I'm sure you know most of them."

That reminded Tony of all the weird and dangerous things he had encountered while living under this roof. He had to agree, the sanctum wasn't a good place to leave non-magical people alone.

"I see the problem," he agreed. "How about you bring us to the jet, we board it, then you teleport the jet to the Netherlands, and we take care from there? Does that sound acceptable?"

"Okay..." Stephen agreed begrudgingly. He obviously didn't like the thought of leaving normal people alone in the sanctum, no matter how brief.

–—–

Ten minutes later, Happy and Tony approached a tulip field close to a small town in the middle of nowhere. Tony could see a lonely figure standing in the sea of flowers.

"I should speak to him without you," Happy said. "He sounded pretty shaken on the phone and you know we haven't told him about you yet… so I better talk to him alone before you show yourself."

Tony longed to go out there and hug Peter. But he knew Happy was right. They wanted to surprise Peter with the 'new' Tony after his school trip, so the teenager knew nothing about his existence.

Tony watched Happy climb out of the jet and cautiously walk towards the person standing in the field.

"Peter? Are you okay?" Happy yelled.

Tony couldn't understand the answer, so he floated with Levi's help to the exit hatch to eavesdrop. 

"Stop! Tell me something only you would know!" Peter yelled.

"Only I would know…" It took Happy a moment to find an answer. "Remember when we went to Germany? You pay-per-viewed a video in your room? They didn't list the titles, but I could tell by the price, it was an adult film at the front desk and you didn't know how I knew?"

"Okay! Okay, fine. It's you. It's you, stop." Relieved, Peter threw himself at the puzzled Happy to hug him. "It's so good to see you."

"Peter, you've got to tell me what the hell is going on here."

"I messed up, bad…"

Curious, Tony stepped into the open hatch to see Peter's face. 

"That can't be…" When Peter spotted him, the last bit of color left his face. Panicked, he pushed Happy away and stumbled backwards. "You're not real! Stop trying to trick me!"

With three quick steps, Happy was in front of Peter and grabbed him by the shoulders. "Listen to me, Pete! You gotta breathe, buddy! Calm down, he is real. I promise you, you are not hallucinating."

"I saw him die…"

"Yes… I mean no… not him…" Happy sighed. "It's complicated..."

Confused, Peter stopped struggling.

"You remember Doctor Strange?"

"Of course," Peter answered. 

"Yeah, the Doc brought _this_ Tony Stark from a parallel universe to us," Happy explained.

" _This_ Tony? From a parallel universe?" Peter got into a defensive stance. "I heard something similar not so long ago from a guy who tried to kill me! So excuse me if I don't believe you!"

Now Tony couldn't hold back any longer. He willed Levi to fly them over to the others. When he was in reach, he pulled Peter into a tight hug—or at least as tight as Tony's injuries allowed.

"Believe me, Kid, I am real. Also, I am _a_ Tony Stark. Maybe not the one you want right now, but well… better than nothing, right?"

"Mr. Stark?" 

"Yes." He petted Peter's hair. "Why don't you try to calm down and tell us what happened?"

Now the teenager started sobbing into Tony's chest.

"You'll be disappointed…"

"I could never be disappointed in you!" Tony said.

"It wouldn't be the first time..."

"Well, actually, we never met before today. So, you're a brand new Peter to me, which means _you_ have never disappointed me, not even with the ferry incident." Tony ran his hand though the boy's hair.

"Because that was another Peter?"

"Now you get it!"

Peter used the heel of his hand to wipe the tears away. 

"Better?" Tony asked.

"No, not really…" Peter shook his head.

"Then let us go back to the plane and you tell us your story." Suddenly, Tony saw blood seeping through Peter's shirt. "... and while you do that, Happy can patch you up. That doesn't look good…" 

Peter nodded and trotted behind the levitating Tony, who led the way.

"Why are you flying?" Peter asked.

"Leg's broken." To emphasize his answer, Tony knocked on the cast.

"What happened?"

"Thanos happened," Tony said, his voice sounding bitter.

"How did you survive?" Peter asked timidly.

"Because in universe Peter Parker died to banish Thanos and his army." Tony said, snapping his fingers to illustrate his answer.

"Oh…"

"You see… we're both not the hero we wish to be."


	26. Far From Home Pt. 2

Without another word, they reached the jet, where Happy pulled out his first-aid-kit. While he tended to his wounds, Peter began telling how Beck had tricked him into handing over the E.D.I.T.H. glasses.

Tony sat the whole time in the corner, staring gloomily. He didn't react when Happy took a needle to sew Peter's shoulder back together.

"Okay. Hold still. Here we go," Happy said.

"Ouch," Peter whined, tensely tapping his foot.

"I thought you had super-strength?"

"It still hurts."

"All right, relax." Happy placed another stitch. "Just a few more... There we go."

"Oh, my God!"

"Relax!"

Peter sprang to his feet and started pacing in the confined space of the cabin. "Don't tell me to relax, Happy. How can I relax when I messed up so bad? I trusted Beck. Right? I thought he was my friend, so I gave him the only thing Mr. Stark left behind for me and now he's gonna kill my friends and half of Europe, so please, do not tell me to relax." He let himself fall back down on a seat and ran his fingers through his hair. "I'm sorry, Happy. I'm sorry. I shouldn't shout... This just is all a bit much."

"Yeah, I know. I miss him, too," Happy said, adding in Tony's direction, "no offence."

Tony just nodded slowly.

"Everywhere I go... I see his face," Peter said, keeping his eyes deliberately from straying to Tony in his corner. "And... the whole world is asking who is gonna be the next Iron Man? I don't know if that's me, Happy. I'm not Iron Man."

"You're not Iron Man. You're never gonna be Iron Man," Happy said, and Peter's gaze dropped to the ground.

"Nobody could live up to Tony. Not even Tony."

Surprised, Peter looked up.

"Tony was my best friend. And he was a mess. He second-guessed everything he did. He was all over the place."

Those words drew a chuckle out of Tony.

"What?" Peter asked.

Tony shrugged. "He's right. The only thing that I didn't second-guess was picking you. I'm pretty sure the same goes for the other Tony. I don't think he would've done what he did... if he didn't know that you were gonna be here after he was gone."

"So… Your friends are in trouble. The tech is missing. What are you gonna do about it?" Happy said to Peter.

"I'm gonna kick his ass." Peter got up again, determination glowing in his eyes.

"No, I mean, right now. Specifically, what are we gonna do? Because we've been hovering over a tulip field for the last fifteen minutes," Happy stammered and Tony just had to grin.

"Right. I can't call my friends because he's tracking their phones... Give me your phone?"

Tony beat Happy to it and handed Peter the new StarkPhone.

The boy took it and exclaimed after a few clicks, "They're in London."

"London? Okay." Happy nodded. "So what's the plan?"

"We need to shut down the drones," Tony pointed out. "That'll put an end to this."

"Can you access the satellite?" Peter asked.

"Not without the glasses." Tony shook his head.

"...and I gave them away," Peter said, hanging his head in shame.

"Aw, that's not the end of the world, Pete. We figure out something else." Deep in thought, Tony bit the knuckle of his right index finger.

"Why can't you access the satellite from here?" Happy asked.

"Because I don't know how to connect to it."

"How can you not know? You built the thing!"

"No, I didn't! I never built an E.D.I.T.H.! I have to hack into this system to access it!"

"Oh…" Happy said.

"So, we need a point of entrance into the system—a perfectly shielded system. At least I have to assume that, because the other me built it. The glasses would be the easiest way, but they are out of the question… so… something that's connected to E.D.I.T.H.…"

"One of the drones?" Peter asked.

Tony turned and looked at Peter.

"Brilliant! If I cobble together a device to hack into the system, can you get it close enough to one of those drones?"

Peter nodded slowly. "Shouldn't be a problem."

"Anything else?" Tony asked when he saw Peter's hesitation.

"Yeah, I need a suit!"

Happy had waited for this moment the whole time. With a grin, he walked to a control panel in the flight deck and pushed a button.

"I got that covered…"

The back of the passenger cabin opened up to reveal a miniature workshop. Tony gave Happy an impressed nod, but Peter wasted no time, scouring through the different presets saved in the machine.

"Okay... um... Bring up everything you have on Spider-Man. Yeah, open that. Okay. No, no, no." Completely absorbed by his task, he didn't realize when Tony got up and joined Happy. Together they stood there, watching the boy and grinning like proud fathers. 

Peter looked up and saw them staring at him. "What?" 

"Nothing. You take care of the suit. I'll take care of the music," Happy said and started playing 'Back in Black' by AC/DC.

"Oh! I love Led Zeppelin!" Peter yelled over the music, turning back to his work.

When Happy pulled a sour face as an answer, Tony burst out laughing. Shaking his head, Happy retreated to the pilot seat. Tony followed him and sat down on the jump seat behind the co-pilot's place. He pulled out a case of tools, the other Tony had left there for emergencies to construct a device to gain access to the E.D.I.T.H. drones.

"Hey, Hap… what you said there… about nobody living up to Tony… that was… good."

"You needed to hear that as much as Pete did." Happy activated on the auto-pilot before he turned back to look at Tony. "For some reason you are convinced that our Tony was so much better than you."

"What do you mean?"

"What he did… You would have done the same thing if you'd been in his position, right?"

"Of course! Without a second thought!"

"You see? You're both the same stupid idiot!"

"I'm not…"

"You are! You are Tony Stark. You'd make the same decisions he made. I know that, because you are my best friend."

Tony leaned back and stared at him with a lopsided grin. "You are a much wiser man than people give you credit for!"

"I know. I am the best."

"Don't spoil it," Tony said.

Happy just chuckled and let Tony work on his device.


	27. Far From Home Pt. 3

"Five minutes to arrival,” Happy announced after a while.

Tony had been so engrossed in his job that he did not know how much time had passed. Without looking up, he mumbled, "Gimme a second, I'm nearly done here…”

"Great, what about you, Pete?” Happy shouted through the plane.

Tugging the new suit into place, Peter stepped into the open cabin door. "Ready, Hap!”

"Woah!” Tony peeked up. "I like the new look—dark, edgy. Not what I would have chosen, but if it works for you…”

Peter frowned at him.

"Just pulling your leg. You look awesome.” Grinning, Tony handed Peter a tiny spider-shaped drone.

"That's it?” Peter twirled the small spider in his hands to examine it from all angles.

"Yepp. All you have to do is hit an E.D.I.T.H. drone with it. It will automatically find the right spot to gain entrance. Once it has established a connection, I take over and you can take out Beck.”

"Okay!”

"Now out with you, so you can jump once we arrive in the drop zone!” Happy said.

Peter nodded before he closed the cockpit door, so he could safely open the exit hatch. He crawled on the outside of the hull back to the cockpit and knocked on the window.

"All right. Comms check. You hear me, kid?” Happy asked when he saw him.

"Yeah, I can. It's just a little loud out here.”

" _I_ like the new suit,” Happy said, smirking at Tony.

"Thanks.”

Suddenly, a giant Monster came into view. Looked like all the previous elementals combined into one entity, it was attacking the Tower Bridge.

"Whoa... Guys, you sure that's not real?” Happy said.

"Yeah, it's just a hundred times bigger than I expected,” Peter shouted over the roaring of the jet engines.

"Still the play?”

"Uh-huh.” They could hear the determination in Peter's voice. "We need to get high enough so that it doesn't see me coming.”

"Copy. Stay sticky,” Happy said and steered the plane upward.

"Hey, Happy.”

"Yeah, kid? What is it?”

"We need to have a serious conversation about you and my aunt…”

Then Peter jumped. He spread his arms to extend the membranes that allowed him to glide.

Tony raised an eyebrow. "What was that about?”

"None of your business!”

Before Tony could dig deeper, Peter yelled over the comms, "Ohh! It's not real, it's not real, it's not real!”

Then, Spider-Man sailed at a break-back speed into the angry cloud of elementals and disappeared.

"Whoa... That's awesome! I'm inside, guys!” Then, a second later, "The packet has been delivered.”

"Great work, Pete!” Tony checked the controls of the spider-drone. "...and we are online! Give me a moment…”

Circumventing the security protocols of E.D.I.T.H. was a piece of cake. Even though the satellite wasn't one of his creations, Tony could find his way through the system blindfolded. After he activated voice controls, he ordered, "E.D.I.T.H. dear, kill the illusions and return all remaining drones to the satellite!”

Immediately, the monsters disappeared, and the swarm of drones ascended to space.

"We got it, Kid!” Tony cheered over the comms. "Go find your friends and bring them someplace safe! I'll call you again when we locate Beck's position.”

"Yes! Thank you, Mr. Stark!”

"How are we gonna do that?” Happy asked.

"Easy: E.D.I.T.H., scan for the glasses.”

"Scanning… Glasses found, Location: Stark Industries storage facility, Upstate New York,” The A.I. answered.

Shocked, Tony and Happy stared at each other.

"What?! That can't be right…”


End file.
